Grand Canyon

“Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness.”-President Theodore RooseveltHow do I begin to describe the majestic wonder that is the Grand Canyon? I was lucky to have hiked down its winding path first-hand as an adolescent. It has left an indelible impact on my life and has fostered a love of nature that has continued to grow.“Grand Canyon” is a remarkable book written and illustrated by Jason Chin. Much like his other books, it is a non-fiction picture book packed with scientific and historical facts about the formation, ecology, and geology of this natural wonder. It even includes the route the characters took for future hikers to take note of. The information included in the back is a treasure trove of facts. Beautiful and detailed illustrations make this an excellent nonfiction addition to your library.Some facts:1. Grand Canyon became a national Park in 19082. At a massive 1,904 square miles, Grand Canyon National Park is bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island (1,212 square miles).3. President Theodore Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon Game Preserve by proclamation in 1906, and declared Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908.4. The Hopi Tribe considers views the Grand Canyon to be a place of great spiritual significance as they consider it a gateway to the afterlife5. The most dangerous animal in the canyon is not the Bighorn Sheep or the Gila monster, it is actually the Rock Squirrel (many visitors have felt its bite)!6. Its canyons are full of fossils but none of them are dinosaurs. The canyon layers were formed long before dinosaurs walked the earth. There are however, fossils of ancient marine animals that date back 1.2 billion years.7. No one really knows how old the Grand Canyon is. Recent studies show that the Colorado River may have started carving the canyon 70 million years ago (and not 6 million years ago as was previously thought).

My 9 year old son visited the Grand Canyon and I was looking for a book to read up on it afterwards with him. I'm a big fan of Jason Chin's other books -- they're all beautifully drawn and well researched, so they have a strong educational component. This book is even better than his other ones -- it's so intricately detailed and meticulously researched. The pictures are beautiful: this book is fantastic! I recommend it highly!

Un livre d’une pure beauté

A gift

¿Puede un libro sobre geología ser atractivo para los niños? Normalmente la respuesta sería no, pero Jason Chin lo ha logrado con Grand Canyon. Lo mejor del libro es la forma en la que nos hace entender fácilmente cómo se creó el cañón y como era en el pasado. Nos lo cuenta a través de una niña que visita el Cañón de Colorado con su padre, de vez en cuando ve un fósil y al pasar la página tenemos ese mismo fósil cuando estaba vivo, nadando en un océano de hace millones de años donde ahora sólo hay desierto.