themum Rock
ysan
— Kirkus Reviews, starred review
o is
world of rocks. From dazzling blue Lapis Lazuli to volcanic Snowflake Obsidian, an incredible variety of
t
Honorable Mention for Best Nonfiction
splendor.
G
ys
Pyrite
o
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Publishers Weekly, “Off the Cuff” Award,
rocks is showcased here in all their
ld
Am
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
Poetic in voice and elegant in
Treatment of a Subject
design, this book introduces
AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in
children to a captivating array
Science Books
of rock facts, making it equally
a
ite
te
Journal, starred review
writers’ workshop, both of which work with underpriv ileged teens in Mexico.
about the plant world’s mysterious, gorgeous spectrum of possibilities.”
dren. Her detailed paintings are inspired by her love of animals and the outdoors. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband and their dogs, Jackson and Truman.
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“. . . both eye-catching and informative.” —School Library Journal, starred
Ob
ke
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
fla
$16.99 U.S./£10.99 U.K.
JACK ET DESIGN BY SARA GILLINGHAM. MAN UFACT URED IN CHINA.
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JACK ET ILLUSTRATIONS © 2012 BY SY LVIA LONG.
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“A lovely mix of science and wonder.”
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review
is the illustrator
of many best-selling books for chil-
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—Booklist
Sylvia Long
utts Aston + Sylvia H Lon na n a g i D
Lapis La zul i
“. . . will encourage kids to wonder
the founder of an annual teen
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imaginations.” — School Library
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foundation, the Oz Project, and is
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“. . . will stretch children’s minds and
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Dianna Hutts Aston
She also manages her nonprofit
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A Seed Is Sleepy
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Also by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
circle as on a parent’s lap.
author of many books for children.
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Junior Library Guild Premiere Selection
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Distinguished Books
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Association of Children’s Librarians (ACL)
enjoyable in a classroom reading
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Reading and Sharing
A Rock Is Lively
New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for
A Butterfly Is Patient
of An Egg Is Quiet, A Seed Is Sleepy, and A Butterfly Is Patient tive introduction to the fascinating
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—Booklist
From the award-winning creators
comes this gorgeous and informa-
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“. . . will inspire kids to marvel.”
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all stripes, flecks, dots and textures.”
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“A delight for budding naturalists of
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: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R FO
An Egg Is Quiet
Aston/Long
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: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R FO
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NEED DEDICATION —D. A. To Thomas Lyman Carlisle, MD, my genius brother who had
the coolest rock collection when we were kids. —S. L.
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A CKN O WLEDGM EN TS : My father, Frank J. Carlisle, Jr., whose life long fascination with geology resulted in many lectures about basin and range country, alluvial fans, dikes, scarp and dip slopes as we drove across the country for childhood summer vacations.
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Edward Garnero, Phd., Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Craig Daniel, (virtual) Lehigh Valley Museum of Natural History, Allentown, PA. Candace A. Sall, Associate Curator, Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbus, Missouri. Robert Spomer, Buena Vista Gem Works. Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com Text © 2012 by Dianna Hutts Aston. Illustrations © 2012 by Sylvia Long. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
1.
Aston, Dianna Hutts. A rock is lively / Dianna Aston, Sylvia Long. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4521-0645-8 (alk. paper) Rocks--Juvenile literature. 2. Minerals—Juvenile literature. I. Long, Sylvia. II. Title. QE432.2.A88 2012 552—dc23 2011048375 Book design by Sara Gillingham. Hand lettered by Anne Robin and Sylvia Long. The illustrations in this book were rendered in watercolor.
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Manufactured in China. 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Chronicle Books LLC 680 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94107 www.chroniclekids.com
Dia
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Lon
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: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R FO
n dia
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: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R FO
. . . bubbling like a pot of soup deep beneath the earth’s crust . . . liquid . . . molten . . . boiling.
Sedimentary
Meta
rp mo
hi c Igneous
Depending on what type of rock it is, a rock melts at temperatures between Magma
1,300 and 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit (700 and 1,300 degrees Celsius).
METEOROIDS
eor
: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R FO
Met
oid
are rocks
that range in size from a grain of sand to a basketball. These “shooting stars” streak through space and sometimes slam into A
st
the moon, Earth, and other er
oid
planets, breaking into fragments known as meteorites.
COMETS
are balls of rock
and ice—sometimes called “dirty snowballs”—that are heated by the sun and soar through space, leaving glowing ribbons of dust behind them.
Co
ASTEROIDS
are gigantic
chunks of rocks and metal. They can weigh millions of tons. The largest known asteroid is 650 miles (Metric is 1,050 kilometers) in diameter. It would take a person 352 hours, or 13 1/2 days, to walk around it.
me
t
: D D TE E N H IZ IO IG R T R HO BU PY T I O U TR C T A IS O D N R FO
The oldest known rocks on Earth were formed billions of years before the sky turned from green to blue, before dinosaurs thundered across the Earth, before humans learned how to make fire. The oldest rocks ever found are nearly 4.5 billion years old.
LEWISIAN GNEISS Scotland, 3 billion years old
METEORITE FRAGMENT Algeria, 4.4 billion years old
BASALT
ZIRCON CRYSTAL
GRANITE
Canada,
Australia,
United States,
4.28 billion years old
4.1 billion years old
2.5 billion years old