One Million Oysters on Top of the Mountain

by Alex Nogués, Miren Asiain Lora (Illustrator), Lawrence Schimel (Translator)

Overview

Come closer and look at these rocks: they’re not normal stones at all! They’re thousands and thousands of mollusks, fossilized together in the sediment. But how did a million oysters ever land on top of a mountain? 

Written by a geologist, this inquisitive journey guides readers through the movements of seas, strata, and tectonic plates. The landscapes of the present can be clues to events in the past. Lush, atmospheric illustrations offer fascinating details to discover, and sidebars and an extensive glossary provide intriguing connections to marine biology and scientific history. 

A compelling introduction to earth science, this book will encourage readers to ask questions, think critically, and embrace their curiosity about the natural world.

Alabama Department of Education Alabama Children's Choice Camellia Award 4-5 Nonfiction Nominee (2022-2023)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802855695
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	09/28/2021
Series:	Spectacular STEAM for Curious Readers (SSCR)
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Alex Nogués is a writer and geologist specializing in groundwater and paleontology. As a twelve-year-old, Alex found his first fossil—a clam fifty miles away from the sea. Later, as an adult, he discovered a previously unknown fossilized organism, which was named Alexina papyracea in his honor. Alex has written or illustrated over sixty books, including Stories in a Seashell (StarBerry Books). He lives in Spain with his family.
 


 
Miren Asiain Lora is the illustrator of Hello, Earth! and A Good Day (both Eerdmans). She studied fine arts at the University of the Basque Country, and her artwork has been shown in several exhibitions in Spain, Argentina, Italy, and Mexico. In her illustrations, she works to capture the magic of everyday life. Miren lives in Spain. Visit her website at miaslo.com.

Lawrence Schimel is an award-winning author who writes in both Spanish and English. He has published over 50 books for kids. He lives in Madrid, Spain, where in addition to his own writing, he works as a literary translator.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2021-08-11
Something amazing might be found on a mountain walk.

The first pages traverse a landscape of meadows, farms, forests, hills, and a rocky mountain, then focus on a pair of hikers, one taller, with pale skin and straight, black hair, and the other shorter, with brown skin and a knit cap, at the top. Nogués’ gently humorous storytelling voice encourages observers to think about fossils in seemingly ordinary gravel, soil, and strata. The large trim size gives space for Lora’s edge-to-edge painting of rocks, flora, and fauna in greens, grays, and browns. Interspersed pages catalog geologic eras, marine creatures whose fossils can be found in mountain strata, and a look at the slow collision of land masses to form mountains. The conversational narrative, translated from the Spanish, has a simplicity and gentle pacing that build to demonstrate how ideas and discoveries in geology—including the presence of oyster fossils on high ground, the layering of the fossil record, and plate tectonics—fit together to explain the results of eons of geologic time. The sense that the history of the world can be seen in the present is nicely conveyed by the illustrations: A dinosaur appears in a mountain lake, tall ferns sprout from the meadow, the hikers dive under the sea. A glossary interprets seven terms used in geology.

A marvelous combination of scientific inquiry and wonder. (author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Informational picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews