Volcanoes

by Gail Gibbons

Overview

Rumbling, hissing, shaking. . .a volcano is about to erupt! Learn all about volcanoes, from tectonic plates to what do when there is a volcanic warning, in this primer for young readers.


Did you know there are four main types of volcanoes? Or that volcanoes are classified as active, dormant, or extinct? The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming is an extinct volcano. It’s about 40.5 million years old!
Gail Gibbons explores the hows and whys of volcanoes, using direct sentences, maps, infographics, and illustrations. Readers will learn about the four layers of the earth, the basics of plate tectonics, the different types of volcanoes, and much more.

Fully vetted by a working volcanologist, this book is perfect for earth science lovers and aspiring volcanologists.

This title is part of the Explore the World . . . with Gail Gibbons series, which promotes active learning, good citizenship, and student leadership.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823445691
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	01/18/2022
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.31(w) x 10.35(h) x 0.34(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

According to the Washington Post, Gail Gibbons "has taught more preschoolers and early readers about the world than any other children's writer-illustrator." The multi award-winning Gail Gibbons is the author of more than 100 books for young readers, including the best-selling titles From Seed to Plant and Monarch Butterfly. Her many honors include the Regina Medal, the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award, and the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book Award.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2022

Gr 1–2—With incandescent illustrations of the hot topic she's pursuing, the prolific, professional Gibbons gives readers the basics of volcanoes and so much more. The types of volcanoes, their explosions, and their earth-altering abilities are not the most dramatic part of the text. By going back in history, for example, to Pompeii, and discussing the current tourist business surrounding volcanoes, Gibbons makes explicit how humans are both terrified of and fascinated by these deadly convergences of heat and pressure. VERDICT Kids will love the devil in the details, and take away the pure excitement that accompanies this subject.—Kimberly Olson Fakih

School Library Journal

★ 2021-11-16
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.

Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.

Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews

★ "A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes. . . . The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form. Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Gibbons applies her signature combination of impeccably accurate definitions and friendly, colorful illustrations to the topic of volcanoes and volcanic eruptions. . . . Each illustration is filled with details: cross-sections of volcano cones show their layering, and insets, captions and notations add even more terminology for curious readers. "—The Horn Book

"Gibbons' distinctive watercolor, ink, and colored-pencil illustrations dominate, providing a pleasing mix of landscapes, infographic charts and maps, labeled cutaway views, and creatively designed visual sidebars. . . . Readers will particularly be drawn to the red, yellow, orange, white, and gray eruptions depicted on most pages, and will grasp the differences between, for example, shield and cinder cone volcanoes."—Booklist

"With incandescent illustrations of the hot topic she’s pursuing, the prolific, professional Gibbons gives readers the ­basics of volcanoes and so much more. . . . Kids will love the devil in the details, and take away the pure excitement that accompanies this ­subject."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher