children's books on evolution/geologic time?

[kangamitroo]

my 6yo is crazy about Life Story by Virginia Lee Burton. it is about the evolution of life on Earth, and the changes that happened to the Earth itself over time (e.g. ice ages).

we are looking for books on this line. any favorites on geology, natural history, evolution would be welcome. thanks!

[ollyoxenfree]

It's a novel written for tweens, but you may enjoy A Bone From A Dry Sea by Peter Dickinson. It has 2 parallel stories - one about a young girl on an archeological dig and the other about a young female hominid who is very special - she learns how to use tools and helps her tribe survive and progress. There is some fascinating exposure to anthropology and archeology, and an exploration of a theory that humans evolved from "wet apes" - hominids who developed in/near the ocean.

[Thalia the Muse]

I looked for exactly this when my daughter was six, because I had very little faith that her public school was going to cover it in enough depth. Nothing I found really hit it out of hte ballpark, but these were worht looking at:

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution -- stunning torn-paper collage illustrations. It's worth buying just for that! I thought the text was both a little too general AND a little too technical, and it doesn't cover human evolution.

Magic School Bus Inside the Earth -- decent survey of geological time, because they drill down through the layers of the earth's crust and mantle.

DK has an evolution book in their Eyewitness series -- I haven't looked at it and I personally find their style too cluttered and fragmented, but they usually do a great job with accurate presentation of science for kids. They have an Early Humans one too.

This one is brand-new, just published this month: http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-How-..._edpp_ttl_in_f I haven't seen it in person, but it looks promising!

[hildare]

maybe look at "Bodies from the ice" and "Bodies from the ash." Those are pretty nifty.

[christinar]

What I thought was going to be a two-week unit study evolved into a semester-long study because my kids were so interested in evolution. This is some of what we read:

The Pebble in my Pocket
I Wonder Why Fish Grew Legs
Born with a Bang; from Lava to Life; Mammals who Morph
The Island that Moved
What's Older than a Giant Tortoise
What Darwin Saw: The Journey that Changed the World
Darwin and Evolution for kids (activities)
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
Animals Charles Darwin Saw
Planet Earth Inside Out
Creatures, Yesterday and Today

As well as the one mentioned, Life on Earth by Steve Jenkins, and the Life Story you started off with.

My kids loved the Walking With... series too. We got all of these from our public library (mostly thru interlibrary loan).

Have fun!

[kangamitroo]

just to say thanks for these suggestions