THE STORY OF LIFE

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This wonderful book introduces children to the story of life and how it all began. Using bitesize text and beautifully bright illustrations this is the perfect book for budding scientists and those eager to learn more about our amazing planet.



Are you ready for an exciting and dramatic story about how life began and developed on Planet Earth? Packed full of fascinating facts and funny illustrations, this is the perfect introduction to life on earth for even the youngest of readers.



At first, nothing lived on Earth. It was a noisy, hot, scary place. Choking gas exploded from volcanoes and oceans of lava bubbled around the globe...Then in the deep, dark ocean, something amazing happened. Find out how the first living cell was created, and how the cells multiply and create jellyfish and worms, and then fish with bendy necks, which drag themselves out of the water into swampy forests.



Discover the story of the biggest creatures that have ever walked on land - the dinosaurs. Long after that, hairy creatures who have babies, not eggs, take over, stand on two legs and spread around the world, some of them living through cataclysmic events such as ice ages and volcanic eruptions.



Everyone living today is related to these survivors- including you! This is the perfect first book about evolution for young readers.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 4-This introduction to evolution traces the planet's history from its fiery beginnings of thunderous volcanoes and lava 4.5 billions of years ago. The book covers the emergence of the first bacteria, the development of dinosaurs, mammals, and birds, and the appearance of humans and how they explored and evolved as the Earth warmed and people began to settle in different parts of the world. Through colorful, cartoonlike images, rendered in mixed media and collage, text bubbles, and captions, this informative story provides a window into the Earth's beginnings, natural selection and the concept of "survival of the fittest," and some of the possible causes of extinction. The authors have consulted Brian Rosen, of the Natural History Museum in London, making this book a solid resource for beginning reports. Back matter is useful and will leave children pondering issues such as climate change and endangered creatures. Time lines are clearly labeled in each section so that readers have an understanding of each historical period. Pair this with Steve Jenkins Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution (HMH, 2002) for a preliminary start to exploring this topic. VERDICT A suitable overview of the subject.-Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Using colorful language and depicting crayon and collage creatures with wide eyes, even at the single-cell stage, this simple account retraces the history of life on Earth from "tiny floating bits" to humans.From blasting volcanoes and belching gasses to a closing panorama of buildings, factories and busy highways, Husband's nave-style cartoon pictures populate the planet with cells, multicelled creatures, plants and animals on land and in the sea, dinosaurs, mammals and then humans in succession. Two major extinction events also get mentions, though they are not specifically named. A linking narrative incorporates the ideas that living things "fought for food and space" and also "evolved" to fill distinct environmental niches. Various terms and phrases from the text are repeated in labels that point to the appropriate spots on the pagefor instance those aforementioned "tiny bits." The authors display a rather parochial point of view in claims that life only "really began to get going" when animals appeared and that following the age of dinosaurs, mammals "took over the world." However, after noting that we really should be taking better care of our home, they do close with the broader and more accurate observation that "with or without us, our planet will spin through space for billions of years to come." A high-spirited lead-in to discussions of evolution's proofs and mechanisms, despite the anthropocentric view of Earth's biosphere. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.