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Grand Canyon

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Grand Canyon
Jason Chin
Neal Porter Book, Raring Brook Press, 2017. 48 p.

This is one of my new favorite books for 2017. It is brilliant. In the book a girl and her dad are visiting the Grand Canyon—one of the natural wonders of the world. Readers will learn about the history (how it was formed) of the national treasure along with what is there today. The best part of this book is the illustrations. The part where the main story is looks like it is on photo paper (with white borders). These illustrations are layered on top of illustrations of things important to the canyon—animals, plants, rocks, etc. Then there are the die cuts. When the girl looks at a trilobite fossil it is actually part of the illustration showing through the cutout so when readers turn the page they can see how that trilobite actually could have come to be in the Grand Canyon.

Chin creates an informational book that is delightful to read and captivating to learn from. He mentions in an author’s note that he was “bit by the geology bug” and most readers will be too after learning about the Grand Canyon. Wow. Just wow.
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