Using visual cues, pop up boxes and colourful, engaging illustrations, we are taken by the hand through geological concepts and history to discover the wonders (and possible treasures!) of the world beneath our feet.
The reader is transported into ideas around the evolution of life on earth and the wonder of geological time. How old is the earth? How are precious gems created? What creatures used to live on the earth? These questions and more are answered in interesting and accessible ways.
Who wouldn’t want to jump headfirst into an information box titled How To Read Mud? Curious Clues In Our Bodies and Rocks You Can Taste are two of my other personal favourite headings! This entertaining book contains something for every young reader to become intrigued by and enthused about.
As someone who had to give myself a stern talking to about removing rocks from central Australia (I didn’t!), and then as the parent of a child-turned-geological engineer who was always keen to carry home just one more rock from the river or the mountains, I can confidently attest to the power and allure of this book. It will definitely satisfy every child’s longing for greater understanding of mother earth.
Whether it’s a school project on fossils or a deep dive into volcanoes, plate tectonics and the formation of rocks and gems, it seems to me that anything which encourages children to think more broadly about our precious planet has to be a good thing.
And a book like
this one is a hands-down winner.
Author: Thomas R H Woolrych
Illustrator: Anna Madeleine Raupach
Publisher: CSIRO, $29.99
Publication Date: February 2023
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781486310968
For ages: 9 -14
Type: Junior Non-fiction