The Grand Canyon

By: Jeffrey Zuehlke
Publisher: Lerner Publications
Publication Date: January 2010
ISBN: 0761342613
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: February 20, 2010

If you have ever been lucky enough to see the Grand Canyon, you know how beautiful and awesome it is. If you haven’t, you’ll be able to see and learn all about it in this book. On the canyon walls you can see the blend of colors. Just looking at it you can see that it is deep. In fact it is “1 mile (1.6 kilometers) deep in some places.” The canyon itself is in northern Arizona in the desert. Many people enjoy visiting the canyon because it is an amazing place where they can hike its trails, gaze over the cliffs to look at the Colorado River down below, ride mules “down to the canyon floor,” or even “ride the fast-moving water” on a raft.

The Colorado River carved out the canyon over the course of six million years when the waters eroded the rock walls. There are many different kinds of rocks you can see that make up those colors. You will see Kaibab limestone, Vicshnu schist, and Redwall limestone. In addition to these few facts, you will learn many other things. You will learn how old the canyon and its layers are, how large it is, you’ll learn who owns and protects the land, you’ll see a U.S. park ranger at work, you’ll learn about and see it’s three different parts, and get to see some amazing pictures!

This is a well-written introductory book about one of our greatest national treasures, The Grand Canyon. The writing is clear, concise and easy to follow. Whether a child is reading the book in anticipation of taking a trip or using it as a stepping stone for a school report they will easily find what they are looking for in here. There are numerous interesting facts and the book is very liberally illustrated with full color photographs on each page. Captions, when needed, point out what the text is talking about. For example, when Kaibab limestone is discussed it is very clear where the student needs to look to find the band of rock. In the back of the book there is a map, some “Fun Facts,” an index, a glossary and additional recommended books and website resources.

Quill says: An excellent resource for the classroom.