Steve Tomecek

The subtitle of this book is "All about rocks, minerals, fossils, earthquakes, volcanoes, & even dirt!" so you can tell right away there will be a lot of information packed into 128 pages.

After a quick introduction, the book plunges right into the information. The ten chapters each begin with a comic, featuring the Dirtmeister at a geology job, where he gets interrupted with a question about the earth from a kid. There are about five spreads per chapter, and each spread includes about one show more page of text, a handful of photographs and several other pieces of information ranging from experiments to "Dirtmeister Nuggets" which are factoids to short biographies of famous scientists and cartoons or maps.

Back matter includes a list of notes that relates the chapters to science curriculum, an index, and photo credits. I felt the cartoon illustrations were a bit over the top and tried too hard to be "kid-friendly" but they aren't so prolific that they take away from the information in the book and younger kids will probably enjoy them.

I felt a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information on such a wide variety of subjects crammed into this small book. Everything from plate tectonics to fossils, from earthquakes to diamonds. The experiments looked interesting, but tended to be a lot more simple than what I expected from the build up in the introduction. I certainly wouldn't recommend reading it straight through and I'm not even sure I'd recommend it to a kid who's interested in, say, rocks, since it's so wide-ranging and kids who are "interested" in something tend to have a rather narrow focus. However, it makes a great resource for earth science curriculum and I can see kids who enjoy compendiums of facts dipping in and enjoying it.

Verdict: This isn't my top pick for National Geographic's earth science offerings - kids are more likely to pick up the Everything series - but if you can't afford that entire series, this gives a little on a variety of subjects and would be a great resource for school and for kids to browse.

ISBN: 9781426319037; Published 2015 by National Geographic; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library show less

The Greatest Stuff on Earth by Steve Tomecek is an informative and fun exploration of the science behind everyday things—covering everything from atoms and light to mushrooms and replacement body parts. The book breaks down complex topics into bite-sized, two-page segments, making it a great choice for quick, topic-specific reads. With vibrant graphics, photos, and diagrams, it’s visually engaging and accessible for curious minds. The casual, conversational tone—like “Chloroplasts show more are one of my favorite kinds of stuff…”—keeps things lighthearted. It’s a solid addition to a classroom library for short bursts of science, but it’s not likely to be a go-to for extended reading—a nice resource for sparking curiosity, but not quite a standout in terms of depth or flow. show less

This 128-page book tackles a lot of science topics in mostly double-page spreads. Coverage of each topic is brief, yet I found I was learning new things reading this book. The illustrations are colorful and cartoon-like, and the font used was large enough to read easily (although black print on dark backgrounds is never a good idea). The four-page glossary at the end is helpful, along with an explanation of the research done for the book (I appreciate the author looking for at least three show more respected, reliable sources for each fact). There's also a three-page index and a list of selected sources - not all, and I suspect the selection deliberately targets websites, because those are generally easier for readers to access. I especially appreciate the author discussing topics like climate change, evolution, and vaccines - because in my right-wing state, many of these topics can no longer be discussed in school. This would be a good book to inspire children to find more to read and learn about the topics it covers that they find interesting. show less

The book Jump Into Science: Sun is an engaging and playful book filled with fun facts and plenty of information about the sun. Throughout this book, we are led by two kids and a cat throughout space to learn more about the sun. The illustrations in this book are kid friendly while still remaining accurate. I think that this book would be a great read during a science unit on the solar system for children to learn more about the sun. Teachers can also incorporate projects and other science show more experience into their lesson about the sun based on the information and facts from the book. I like this book because it is an easy read, but it is also full of so much amazing information that kids will love and be fully engaged with. show less