Pages

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ROCKS! ROCKS! ROCKS! Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

If you work with young children, you probably know Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, the author of SHELLS! SHELLS! SHELLS! and FLY, MONARCH, FLY! In Wallace's newest book, ROCKS! ROCKS! ROCKS! Buddy Bear visits the Rock Ridge Nature Center. He and his mom hike the Blue Diamond Nature Trail, where Buddy learns some basic geology facts and concepts, e.g. the earth is a ball of rock, rock erodes over time and that there are more than one hundred kinds of rocks. They also meet a park ranger who teaches them how sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock are made.

ROCKS! ROCKS! ROCKS! definitely rocks! The "facts wrapped in a story" format makes this fairly difficult topic easily accessible to young children. Diamond-shaped signs along the nature trail act as headings or subtitles and provide a great jumping off point for a discussion of how authors use different tools to support readers. Rectangular signs give kids with some fun facts to know and share. The illustrations are Wallace's trademark collage and include not only a variety of papers, but also some great photographs of rocks. Appendixes encourage young petrologists to start a rock collection, make rock magnets, write a rock joke, or build a cairn. Two other appendixes list rock places, e.g. Rocky Ford, Colorado, and rock sayings.

Visit Nancy Elizabeth Wallace's website here.

No comments: