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Volcano

May19
Volcano

Volcano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volcano

Claire Saxby

Jess Racklyeft

A & U Children’s, 2025

28pp., hbk.,  RRP $A24.99

9781761180644

In The Boundless Deep the first part of his classic novel, Hawaii,  James A. Michener crafts the most picturesque, detailed description of the formation of the island as far below the ocean the Earth’s surface ruptures and its innards spew out.  It is a masterpiece of writing, one that has stayed with me since I first read it in 1969 during Port Moresby’s seemingly endless wet season – and I still have that original copy!

Now, in language just as arresting but much simpler and thus accessible to our younger readers, and accompanied by the stunning illustrations of Jess Racklyeft, master narrator Claire Saxby brings a similar event to life in her new release, Volcano.

Deep in the ocean, far beyond the reach of even the brightest sun, the earth quakes.

Hagfish scatter and snailfish flutter.

Lava pillows flash and fade, rumpling the seabed as a new volcano births a mountain…

Through words and pictures – that include incredible double double-page spreads – the young reader can witness the invisible until it not only becomes visible, but inhabited as new life begins, underscoring the interdependence and symbiosis of land, sea and sky and the wonder that is so much more than startling, eye-catching pictures on a television newsclip.

When it comes to capturing children’s imaginations and curiosity, creating a volcano is one of the go-to experiments that always evokes wonder, and this book with its dramatic cover is sure to attract attention.  But it is the continuation of the story after the initial eruption, the explanation of chemosynthesis, where chemicals create food energy, far beyond the reach of light in ecosystems around hydrothermal vents, and how tiny bacteria and other minute creatures form to drift away as the chimneys grow and cool and both carry and become food for others that sets this apart.

Like that first rumble under the seabed, this book grows and grows, providing the ideal platform and introduction to the earth sciences for the curious mind.  It is an ideal addition to that collection that explores and explains the formation of the planet and the life which inhabits it that includes

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Australian Backyard Naturalist 

Earth is Big

We are One: How the World Adds Up

Australian Backyard Explorer

The History of Everywhere

The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Atlas of Amazing Migrations

Ouch! Tales of Gravity

The Same But Different

Evolution

On the Origin of the Species

Who Makes an Ocean?

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

Green: The Story of Plant Life on our Planet

Cosmic Wonder

How We Came to Be; Creatures of Camouflage and Mimicry

 

 

About 300 miles off the coast of Oregon, an underwater volcano appears to be rumbling to life. Scientists who have been monitoring the vast submarine volcano for decades say a flurry of recent activity — including an uptick in earthquakes in the vicinity, and swelling of the structure itself — signals that it’s ready to erupt. Current forecasts project that the volcano, known as Axial Seamount, could erupt anytime between now and the end of the year, according to Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist and research professor at Oregon State University.

About 300 miles off the coast of Oregon, an underwater volcano appears to be rumbling to life. Scientists who have been monitoring the vast submarine volcano for decades say a flurry of recent activity — including an uptick in earthquakes in the vicinity, and swelling of the structure itself — signals that it’s ready to erupt. Current forecasts project that the volcano, known as Axial Seamount, could erupt anytime between now and the end of the year, according to Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist and research professor at Oregon State University. Click here to watch a video of the possibilities.  Videos, including livestream, of the volcano, are available from Ocean Observatories

 

Listen to Claire Saxby talk about the book on the ABC Science Show.

Livestream the latest eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano…

 

Every Rock Has A Story

Feb1
Every Rock Has A Story

Every Rock Has A Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every Rock Has A Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology

Kitty van Cuylenburg

Cher Hart

CSIRO Publishing, 2025

64pp., hbk., RRP $A32.99

9781486316731

Drive a short way out of the city, any city or town, and it’s not long before you see rocks pushing their way out of the ground, remnants of some ancient hill or mountain.  Or head to the coast and watch the waves pound against the rocks, scurry into some hidden cave and emerge again in a plume of spray.  Perhaps you have been to Uluru, the distinctive monolith that seems to rise from nowhere in Central Australia, or maybe the limestone stacks on Victoria’s southern coast known as the Twelve Apostles .

 

Whichever landscape or landshape has caught your eye, it is hard not to wonder at the how and the what of each.  

So this new book from CSIRO Publishing is the ideal introduction to the land beneath our feet (or in front of us), the Country we walk on as it is a comprehensive A-Z of the rocks of this ancient land, their formation and timeline, the factors that make and shape them and some of those that aren’t as familiar. 

For independent readers who want information and explanation rather than just fun facts, but offered in a way that they can relate to,  this is a journey through Australia’s geological wonders with illustrations, diagrams and maps that not only spans the continent but also the 4.4 billion years of the planet’s history with the final entry being about the tiny zircon fragment found in Western Australia in 2001 and which radiometric dating showed to be “the oldest known mineral yet found on Earth – in one of the oldest existing pieces of the earth’s crust.”

While our students are becoming more and more aware of what’s around them and to observe this, giving them a basic understanding of what is beneath them through geology can only give them a deeper appreciation of not only the planet but also Country as it continually acknowledges Traditional Owners as being the first scientists and storytellers and request that their beliefs be respected, such as not taking boats though Ganbadba (the Horizontal Falls in remote WA) when the tide is running because the water is the Woonguss (creator snake) itself.

If you are beginning the new school year with an investigation into the ancient history of either the planer of this country, this is an important addition to that collection, but it is also an ideal companion for Rocks, Fossils and Formations, Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains, Our Country: Ancient Wonders,  and The Book of Stone, perhaps even Rockhopping.

 

 

Who Makes an Ocean?

Jan21
Who Makes an Ocean?

Who Makes an Ocean?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Makes an Ocean?

Sally Nicholls

Carolina Rabei

Andersen Press, 2024

32oo., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781839131318

Take a young child to the beach for the first time and they are almost certain to ask, “Who made the ocean?”  Could it have been an ancient god? A magic spell? A billion firefighters and all their hoses?

No. It was none of these, and in this fascinating book the young reader is taken through the journey of the Earth’s formation and how “it was worlds upon worlds of tiny creatures. It was good luck and bad luck and uncountable shifts and changes…”  Using a father and his children visiting the Sea Museum to connect the story, this makes a very accessible explanation to a complex question.  As well as the timeline thread, there are also pages that focus on ecosystems, the impact of humans and how we can protect them so the ocean and its inhabitants becomes as important as the land and its in our quest to protect and preserve the planet. 

Even for those who have different beliefs about the planet’s and life’s first beginnings, this is a must-have in the school library’s collection if we are to provide students with a variety of viewpoints, and adds to the collection of previously reviewed books that help explain  the origins of this planet and its inhabitants, as well as being a companion to Who Makes a Forest? …

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Australian Backyard Naturalist 

Earth is Big

We are One: How the World Adds Up

Australian Backyard Explorer

The History of Everywhere

The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Atlas of Amazing Migrations

Ouch! Tales of Gravity

The Same But Different

Evolution

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

On the Origin of the Species

 

Rocks, Fossils and Formations

Feb6
Rocks, Fossils and Formations

Rocks, Fossils and Formations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocks, Fossils and Formations

Thomas R. H. Woolrych

Anna Madeleine Raupach

CSIRO Publishing, 2023

120pp., pbk., RRP $A29.99

9781486310968 

Travel the road between Cooma and Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains and you will see the most amazing rock formations that are as old as the planet itself.  Go to New Zealand’s South Island and visit the boulders scattered along Moeraki Beach.  Go anywhere in the world and you will discover the most amazing rocks and formations that spark questions such as how old they might be, how did they get there, why are they that colour, shape, texture and could they contain some unknown mineral or fossil treasure?

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

This new publication from CSIRO Publishing is an introduction to geoscience, which uses clues in rocks and the landscape to tell the story of the Earth. It’s a story so old and so fascinating that it’s almost hard to believe – except that the evidence can be seen all around us! It takes readers on a 4.6-billion-year-long time travel adventure to explore rocks, minerals and fossils, meet ancient plants and animals, and discover how the continent of Australia was created!

Beginning with an explanation of what geoscience is, it then navigates a 4.6 billion year history beginning with when the planet was a ball of molten magma exploring the geological timeline , enabling the independent reader who wants more than an introduction or overview be “in the driver’s seat of a time machine” so that there is a better understanding of the continent and its surrounding oceans that support our lives and lifestyles. Big-picture questions are addressed such as 

  • Has our continent always been the way it is today?
  • What is the size and shape of our continent and the surrounding sea floor? What is our continent made of?
  • How old is our continent and when did the different parts of it begin to form? What are the clues that tells us thee things?
  • Why do we live where we live? Why is this town or city here?
  • Does the way that Earth works make it safe to live here?

While it is more for the upper primary/ secondary student, with its accessible text, photographs and diagrams, it is one that will appeal to any reader who has an interest in this subject, perhaps a stepping stone for all those who are deeply inspired by the reign of the dinosaurs and want to know so much more than just the habits and habitats of those creatures and delve into even bigger secrets. Who knows what new careers might be launched! 

 

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Jan2
BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Katherine Halligan

Amy Grimes

Walker Studio, 2021

40pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

9781406395129

Today’s book is the perfect accompaniment to Our Country: Ancient Wonders  as it takes the reader back beyond the formation on those ancient rocks at Kakadu 2.5 billion years ago to the very beginning of the universe answering those questions that some will inevitably ask about what came before even those ancient Australian formations.

In the beginning there was Nothing

No dark. no light, no day no night.

No sun, no moon, no stars.

No land , no sea, no air.

No plants, no animals

No me,

no you.

Just…

Nothing.

Until…

BANG

With a clever design technique of increasing the font with each statement, there is a sense of anticipation building until the reader in catapulted into the incredible story of billions of years of life on Earth, from the first tiny cells, through the age of dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts, all the way to the first humans. Using language that appeals as it describes the growth (“green things, buggy things, swimmy things, wriggly things, scaly things (big ones)”  it tracks the development of life in a way that offers enough information to satisfy curiosity without being overwhelming, while opening the door to further investigation for those who are intrigued.  And, as with Our Country: Ancient Wonders the historians, the scientists, the mathematicians, the artists and the storytellers can explore and explain the theory according to their interest and some can even consider the implication of a radical new theory,  perhaps even setting up a debate about that, the Big Bang and the various religious viewpoints.  

However, to pinpoint a focus, what really appealed was that after the meteor disaster that wiped out the dinosaur era, the planet recovered and this should give some comfort to those who are anxious about the current focus on the environment and climate change.  Both the land and those who inhabit it are very resilient. So with all the dystopian, post-apocalypse literature (both print and screen) dominating their leisure time,  there is scope for hope and belief in a future.

Books like this that can open up the potential for a series of rich, meaningful experiences that allow the development of essential investigative skills without appearing to be formal isolated, check-the-box lessons provide authentic learning experiences for students that last well beyond the classroom walls, particularly if there is a co-operative task that allows participants to use and build on their existing interests and talents.

 These days, after 51 years in teaching, it is a rare book that makes me wish I was back in the face-to-face situation but both this and yesterday’s have.  

And to help you here are some worthwhile links… Geoscience Australia is a rich trove. 

Table of Geological Periods

Geoscience Australia – Education resources

Geoscience Australia classroom resources 

Australia through Time  (map)

Australia Through Time (poster)

Shaping a Nation: A Geology of Australia    this is a book with each chapter available separately

Australia: an ancient land (teacher notes)

You might also like to check out We Go Way Back by Idan Ben-Barak which has a similar theme.

 

 

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

Jan1
Our Country: Ancient Wonders

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

Mark Greenwood

Frané Lessac

Walker Books, 2022

40pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

 9781760652241

Our country is calling…

There could be no more fitting way to start a new year’s reading journey than with this stunning journey around our ancient land visiting natural wonders that date back 2.5 billion years!

From the front endpage that maps out the route to the wonders gathered in the book – Lark Quarry, Undara Lava Tubes, Lightning Ridge, Great Ocean Road, Cradle Mountain, Franklin River, Naracoorte, Lake Mungo, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, Devils Marbles, Kakadu, Wolfe Creek, Bungle Bungles, Zebedee Springs – to the final one that maps adventures still to undertake we are taken on an expedition in an old tour bus that both explores and explains a handful of the features that make Australia unique. 

Each double page spread introduces a ‘new’ phenomenon in a fascinating way that makes this book so readable.

History hunter Mark Greenwood is in his element with this topic as he combines both geology and geography beginning with  a basic statement such as “Our country had a fiery past” and “Lost worlds are found in our country” which not only set the scene for the basis of the visit but create a deeper appreciation of why our First Nations people feel such a connection to Country. Then there is a broad explanation with language reminiscent of a tourist brochure as well as a brief, fact-filled paragraph about the origins of the particular beauty.  And all set against a backdrop of Frané Lessac’s stunning artwork! 

At a time when travel remains so tricky, this is a book that is a must-have in both the home and school library.  For the family, it is an opportunity to plan a journey (or two or three) to discover the remarkable land shapes and landscapes that are our own backyard; while in the school setting, a class could go on a new journey every few weeks!  Set teams to investigate each location in greater detail to introduce it to their peers on a year-long journey that not only explores the feature in greater depth but also helps them understand the origins of the planet’s topography and the interplay between it and the environment, again strengthening that understanding of connection to Country. The historians can delve into the land before time, scientists can dig into geology, paleontology and all the other ologies; the mathematicians can plot timelines, distances, routes…; the artists can produce posters and brochures; the storytellers can dig into the legends and retell them (or invent a new one); the environmentalists can examine the interaction between landscape, habitat and inhabitants… there is something for everyone to show and share their strengths. 

Here are some useful links to start – making yourself familiar with what’s available through Geoscience Australia could be your best move this year…

Table of Geological Periods

Geoscience Australia – Education resources

Geoscience Australia classroom resources 

Australia through Time  (map)

Australia Through Time (poster)

Shaping a Nation: A Geology of Australia    this is a book with each chapter available separately

Australia: an ancient land (teacher notes)

And the best news is that this is just the  first book in the Our Country series which will takes readers on even more  journeys across Australia to discover  both our unique geology and geography! A whole year’s worth of lessons sorted!! If ever there were a book that deserved the tag Australia: Story Country or even Dreaming with your eyes open – this is it.