Kitty van Cuylenburg (text) and Cher Hart (illustrator), Every Rock has a Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology, CSIRO Publishing, January 2025, 64 pp., RRP $32.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781486316731
Another fascinating information title from CSIRO Publishing, this 64-page book about rocks provides an excellent coverage of Australian geology for young readers. It contains a lot of information about a wide variety of not just types of rock but also landforms, fossils, gemstones and minerals.
The author is a teacher and qualified geologist, so the text is written in a conversational tone while still being accurate and informative. Each double-page spread begins with the letter of the alphabet on the left accompanied by a page of text with accompanying illustrations on the right. The vocabulary can be technical so the intended readership is probably from mid-to-late primary age up. Also included is alternative Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples’ place names, along with the people group to which the place belongs.
The artwork by experienced scientific illustrator Cher Hart includes close-ups, cross-sections, diagrams and maps showing the location of the place or rock being discussed, with the occasional person included. There are also fact boxes giving extra information and the book ends with a map of locations, a geological timeline and a glossary. The endpapers show two different specimen boxes with various samples discussed in the book. Recommended.
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
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