Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey through Time » (Reprint)

Diane Nelson Spickert has been a geologist for more than 20 years. She has enjoyed volunteering as a guide for Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison, Colorado, and teaching geology at local elementary schools. Marianne D. Wallace is a natural science illustrator and writer whose work has appeared in over 30 books and publications. She has also been an elementary school science teacher, a botanic garden tour guide, and a writer for the US Forest Service. She lives in the foothills of Southern California.

A kid-friendly exposition of how one rock journeys through its geological cycle.

Children's Literature

A large chunk of granite breaks away from the mountain and lands on a rock pile near a shallow pond. The journey from igneous rock to sedimentary rock has begun. Though it will take many millions of years and will cover many relative time periods, the reader is kept interested because the format for this journey is a story, with the rock being the main character. This rock-cycle story is enhanced by geologically accurate descriptions and illustrations of creatures, plants, conditions and their effects on the rock's journey. Even young children will be interested in the process that turns rock into sand and then back into rock. The only difficult aspect for children (and perhaps adults) to comprehend is the expanse of time. Many millions of years, from Permian to present day, is a difficult concept to grasp when we are accustomed to dealing with a much smaller time frame on a day to day basis. This is, however, a very educational and noteworthy book, for it combines two or more lessons into one. Teachers and parents will recognize that this is one of those books. Science, reading and listening, and comprehension skills can all be addressed with this book. It also includes a geologic time scale, an especially helpful glossary and a bibliography. 2000, Fulcrum,