Geology of the Pacific Northwest

Geology of the Pacific Northwest – Investigate How the Earth Was Formed

By Cynthia Light Brown

Illustrations by Eric Baker

Nomad Press

2011

If geology books were like this when I was a kid, I might be a geologist today! The author has tapped into the language of typical 9 – 12 year olds and has written a fantastic explanation of how the Pacific Northwest came to be. From explosive volcanoes and earthquakes to glaciers and rainforests, this book covers it all.

A key component of the book’s success is the hands-on projects that help illustrate some of the concepts presented in the book. While we’ve all seen the typical experiments like baking soda volcanoes, Brown has created some original and highly entertaining visuals. Using familiar items like a Milky Way candy bar to illustrate tectonics and shifting plates and mounds of peanut butter to help readers understand how mountains “fold” in the formation process, the author has proven her understanding of the way kids think, learn and understand.

As is often the case in successful books like this one, the illustrations are just as important as the text. Baker was obviously an excellent choice for this project as the cartoon-style line drawings perfectly match the tone and humor of the author’s words. A glossary, bibliography and list of related web sites round out this excellent resource. Let’s hope this team keeps producing more books of this nature to put some life in the world of science and geology books.