Paula Morrow Making Writers Better

Paula Morrow

Book Review Archive

20 March 2010

Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox, illustrated by Nancy Davis. Charlesbridge, 2010. Ages 4-9.

Earthsteps by Diane Nelson Spickert, illustrated by Marianne D. Wallace. Fulcrum, 2010. Ages 4-8.

The average young child lives in the here and now. Last year was a long time ago, and a decade doesn't mean much to a five-year-old. Two colorful picture books, however, tackle the topic of events stretching over millions of years.

"How old are you?" It's a question many people ask on meeting a child for the first time. Older Than the Stars would be an unexpected answer--but it's logical coming from a child who has enjoyed this exciting picture book. Cumulative text follows the familiar nursery-rhyme format of "This is the house that Jack built." What is being built isn't a house, though, it's the universe.

The cheerful rhyme uses simple terms for the read-aloud crowd, like "bits" and "dust" for protons and atom clouds, while boxed sidebars add details for elementary-school readers. Based on the most recent scientific discoveries, the book explains how atoms are recycled. Just imagine!--Our bodies contain bits of primeval dust, and the oxygen in our lungs was probably once breathed by dinosaurs.

Many elements combine to form our world, and different forms of art--from simple potato prints to computer graphics--come together here in strikingly appropriate illustrations. This amazing science book for young children ends with a timeline of the universe, covering billions of years.

Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey Through Time opens with a timeline: a graphic image of geological timescale, going back 4600 million years. The story itself begins a mere 250 million years ago. "A rock hurtled down the cliff and landed with a muddy spray on a rock pile. Thwap!"

A rock may seem an unlikely main character for a picture book, but this prehistoric rock provides a focal point as the millennia pass. Mixed-media paintings show the changes in the rock's surroundings over time. The land changes; oceans rise and fall; plants and animal life vary. The rock weathers to a pebble, then a grain of sand, and eventually fuses into sandstone as the geologic cycle continues.

Previously published in 2000, the out-of-print title is being re-released this month for a new generation of young children. The straightforward text is accessible to read-aloud listeners. Independent readers may need help with a few words, but the scientific terms are understandable in context. A glossary provides simple definitions.

Cosmology and geology, given the right presentation, are mind-expanding subjects. Both of these vivid picture books will increase a child's natural sense of awe at the wonder-filled world in which we live.