Grand Canyon: (Caldecott Honor Book)

Beautiful book, great pictures of the Canyon! Very explicit and informative.

“Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness.”-President Theodore RooseveltHow do I begin to describe the majestic wonder that is the Grand Canyon? I was lucky to have hiked down its winding path first-hand as an adolescent. It has left an indelible impact on my life and has fostered a love of nature that has continued to grow.“Grand Canyon” is a remarkable book written and illustrated by Jason Chin. Much like his other books, it is a non-fiction picture book packed with scientific and historical facts about the formation, ecology, and geology of this natural wonder. It even includes the route the characters took for future hikers to take note of. The information included in the back is a treasure trove of facts. Beautiful and detailed illustrations make this an excellent nonfiction addition to your library.Some facts:1. Grand Canyon became a national Park in 19082. At a massive 1,904 square miles, Grand Canyon National Park is bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island (1,212 square miles).3. President Theodore Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon Game Preserve by proclamation in 1906, and declared Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908.4. The Hopi Tribe considers views the Grand Canyon to be a place of great spiritual significance as they consider it a gateway to the afterlife5. The most dangerous animal in the canyon is not the Bighorn Sheep or the Gila monster, it is actually the Rock Squirrel (many visitors have felt its bite)!6. Its canyons are full of fossils but none of them are dinosaurs. The canyon layers were formed long before dinosaurs walked the earth. There are however, fossils of ancient marine animals that date back 1.2 billion years.7. No one really knows how old the Grand Canyon is. Recent studies show that the Colorado River may have started carving the canyon 70 million years ago (and not 6 million years ago as was previously thought).

This is literally one of the best children's picture books I've ever seen! For any child interested in the world of nature, the outdoors, evolution, paleoecology, geology, or natural history this book will be profoundly satisfying. Beautiful, detailed illustrations that realistically capture the feel of this high desert landscape and each elevation’s own ecological zone, alternate between the Grand Canyon as it looks today and how that terrain looked hundreds of millions of years ago (sometimes taking us underwater). The book gives a real sense of our earth's history in a way that will be very accessible to children of any age, as seen through the eyes of a girl exploring the Grand Canyon with her father. Pre-readers will pore over the illustrations (I'd have spent hours looking at those as a child!) and take in on their own level the text their parents read to them. Older children (I would not hesitate to give this book to an intelligent 6th grader) will get even more out of this book. Actually, I would recommend this wholeheartedly to adults as well; it fills one with joy and a sense of great wonder. How great is our God!(Perhaps I'd better add, for those who are uncomfortable with my exclamation: This book does not speak of God, but it will lead anyone who does believe in God to praise Him.)

As an adult, I have been buying Jason Chinʼs childrenʼs books because I adore his paintings. I am learning how to paint, and I just love seeing how he paints trees and skies and mountains. But if I were a child, I would also LOVE his books that are so filled with imagination and true artistry. At a time when our carbon footprint is more important that ever, I love being able to visit the Grand canyon anytime I want to in this extremely well done book that includes drawings of the plants, animals and birds in the Grand Canyon. The fold out page of the canyon takes you breath away.

Ok, I am not too proud to say this… we were visiting the Grand Canyon last month and saw this book in one of the stores within the park. It was exactly what we wanted! Beautiful artwork - nice story. Fun! I wanted 3 copies as gifts. I was surprised to get good cell reception at the Grand Canyon but I did and looked to see if Amazon had the book available. Not only did they - it was $7 cheaper than at the park! I ordered 3 and they were delivered the day we returned! The kids loved them!

I wanted a long term reminder of what will probably be the best vacation ever. I wanted some of the canyon facts that I would never remember without a detailed book. This was great. While not very thick, it gives far more detail than I would ever need. Reads a little like a story. I like the hard cover but very big, like a child's story book.

This book is a fantastic work of nonfiction; upon our first read my five year old and I were singing about how much we love science. With beautiful illustrations, Chin creates a remarkable, thorough, detailed work about the Grand Canyon, with everything from geology, geography, biology, and numerous other focuses as you go along. The information is presented in the narrative of a girl and her father hiking throughout the canyon, going from present day to the past and back, inviting children to use their imagination but to also get a real sense of this place without ever visiting (although it might make you want to visit!). This is a must-read for any study about the area, but also for any area of science relating to its relevant topics.

Jason Chin is a stellar author and illustrator. The book is gorgeous and so informative. As always his art work is phenomenal. This is a great book to have for kids of all ages. Chin does an excellent job of really sparking interest in the Grand Canyon and making it a travel destination!