Reddit reviews Bringing Fossils To Life: An Introduction To Paleobiology

Prothero's "Bringing Fossils to life" was one of the into textbooks we used when I took an undergrad invertebrate paleontology class and it is a good introduction. The other book we used was exclusively an invertebrate paleo book, but this one has a decent amount of vertebrate stuff as the author himself researches fossil mammals and Cenozoic stratigraphy.

One I like (I've got an old edition, 1995; there maybe newer) is History of Life by Richard Cowen. I'll ask our paleontologist what book he teaches from and post the title later.

EDIT: Bringing Fossils To Life: An Introduction To Paleobiology by Prothero (expensive text, but perhaps you can find it used)

EDIT 2: I was told the 2^nd edition of Prothero isn't much different than the 1^st, but the 1^st is a lot cheaper.

Go to the library and look for a historical geology textbook. You will probably have everything you need if you find just one. If you have a choice, this is a good book covering the paleo part, and any historical geology textbook should have a nice long chapter on the Paleocene. For a map, there are a number of good ones, but this is one site I use sometimes (be sure to cite references properly!). There is not a Paleocene map, but you can use the K-T and Eocene maps to get beginning/end conditions. The time period is a fairly interesting one, particularly for the story of development of life. Good luck, and if you make a nice poster, be sure to upload a picture of it!