Rocks and minerals are the building blocks of our world. Full of high-quality pictures, this book details the basics of the rocks and minerals that make up the earth. It is divided into four sections: Inside Earth, Remarkable Rocks, Magnificent Minerals, and Glorious Gems. It contains details about mining, notable formations, uses of rocks and minerals in modern technology, mineral poisoning, and other things besides basic rock identification and formation. A key in the back helps readers identify rocks to see if they are igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, and to identify the most common kinds of rocks. It also contains a free e-book about rock collecting so that interested readers can continue learning about geology.

For students who want a general introduction to geology or students who are looking for information in something that they are interested in, this book is a great educational resource. The high-color photographs help illustrate what the rocks and minerals look like and why they are important to an ordinary person’s life. Sometimes the pages don’t have a logical flow of information to take the reader from one thing to the next, so people looking for a specific piece of information may have a challenge to find it. For general reading a page at a time, however, the book will provide a lot of information on rocks and minerals for interested students, parents, and teachers. ( )

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This book is a must for amateur rock collectors. Even though I have very little interest in rock formations and mineral qualities, I was impressed by this book's contents. It covers a broad field including "How to make a planet" to "Killer crystals." The beautiful photographs begin on the front cover and follow through on every subsequent page. There is something new and exciting to see at every turn. The one pitfall of this book is purely subjective. Being that I am not a lover of rocks, I became overwhelmed by the amount of information and was tempted to give up reading it. If it wasn't for the amazing images I might have forgotten about it all together. I'm not sure a young reader will appreciate all the photos and information, but I am positive this book is a useful tool for more advanced students. ( )

This book introduces different types of rocks and minerals, and their formation and origins with the use of vivid real life images. It can be used in a Science elementary classroom, paired with a text book, to elaborate and excite students with information about how rocks help with understanding the Earth and our own history. ( )