Grand Canyon

GRAND CANYON is the latest science-based picture book from award-winning author-illustrator Jason Chin, whose other educational works include Redwoods and Gravity. Following a father-daughter pair of hikers trekking from the North to the South Rim of the Southwest's most breathtaking monument, Grand Canyon explains and explores the incredible geological processes that took place over millions of years that shaped the rocks and cut out the gorge. As the duo descends into the different levels of the canyon, each biome is described and illustrated, including accompanying diagrams of the plants and wildlife found there. Additionally, as the budding naturalist struggles to envision the prehistoric landscape, the illustrator -- using fossil evidence as a scientist would -- provides hypothetical scenes that show what the area might have looked like in the past, including depictions of jellyfish floating around under the sea 515 million years ago, gigantic dragonflies that cruised the canyon 280 million years ago, and sharks and shellfish that swam back as the sea returned 270 million years ago. The wide range of climates and habitats that endure in the national park each reveal a hidden history, observable in nature and diligently exposed by the hard work of scientists since the mid-1800s. Detailed diagrams of geology basics are also included throughout, showing the different layers of rocks, the progression of tectonic uplift, and several other complex but essential concepts.