Rocks and Minerals: A Gem of a Read! (Basher Science) by Simon Basher

Rocks and Minerals: A Gem of a Read! (Basher Science) Reviews

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  Sophie Crane

  A Really good book as it explains things the way a child can understand.
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  Betsy

  One Sentence Review: Though it may primarily find itself being used in conjunction with homework assignments, I read this puppy from cover to cover and enjoyed it thoroughly in the process.
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  Kiri

  Colorful and chatty, this guide to rocks and minerals mixes cold hard facts with warm fuzzy (sometimes cheesy) characterizations. The cartoon characters for each entry are entertaining and often very apt (I love how the Trace Fossil has handprints, Quartz has a trigonal head, Marble is a column with a toga, etc). Descriptions are told in the first person, giving each rock or mineral a voice. Kind of the same voice, with a lot of puns. But the entries also contain accurate information about color, constituent minerals, hardness, and so on. And at the end is a fold-out poster with a Mohs hardness scale peopled with the cute cartoon minerals!
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  Rebecca Lee

  I'm surprised how much fun my son and I had reading this science book. We enjoyed guessing the properties of the rocks and minerals based on their character drawings and got into their personal stories. We're moving on to math and chemistry next.
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  Karen

  My third-grade son LOVES the Basher series. Right now, he is so interested in rocks that he wanted a rock collection for his birthday, so this book was perfect reading material for him. The only reason it is not five stars is because he thinks the illustrations are a little 'weird'.
  
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  Rebecca

  Rocks are cool. This book had the best portrayal of rocks, and it made me want to collect them. All of these rocks have their own personalities as presented through the art and each individual rock entry, and they seem more like characters than the scientific concepts in other Basher books.
• 
  Ella K

  GREAT!
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  Angie

  This book is a masterpiece.
  I like the gems, the minerals in this book.
  I discovered Arsenic because of this book.
  Reminder that I bought this on November of 2022.
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  Jennifer Heise

  I picked this up since I already had the companion set of cards, and my six year old adores them. (Don't ask me why.) With the cartoonish aide-memoire illustrations and basic information, this is an excellent companion to more photographic rock and mineral guides, or an additional study guide for those toiling through high school geology. Because it doesn't include realistic illustrations of the different rocks and minerals, it won't supplant those resources, but if you don't have one of those, read with Google Images open to see examples. What it does have is light-hearted engaging text about where the rocks are found, how they are formed, what they are good for, and similar tags. (A chart at the bottom of each entry describes mineral component, chemical formula, hardness, color, crystal system, and look-alikes.) Each of the groupings is introduced with a short description of what makes them a set. There is a glossary at the end (though hardly and exhaustive one) and a poster showing rocks/minerals at different points in the Mohs scale.
  
  I actually enjoyed this but point out it is probably best for rockhounds and those who read science for fun, though cartoon/anime enthusiasts may be drawn to it, also.
• 
  Parker

  Book Review:
  
  I think this book has a lot of interesting facts on rocks and minerals. Its vary easy to understand and read. It was one of my favorite science books I've read all year. I think the writers did a great job I just couldn't stop reading. The book had many different types of rocks and minerals including a lot I didn't know. Most of the pages have different facts about many different rocks like gold, silver, granit, copper and a lot more.
  
  
  I give the book Rocks and Minerals 4 *'s for that reason.
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  Maria

  I love this book. To have the sometimes boring science in this very interesting creative book with characters as the rocks and minerals is awesome. Thos book has alot of infromation and gives you an idea of what rocks are out there. It probably has a follow up book telling you how they are made because there is so many books , there is follow up books for others on the series. for example biology has a follow up book called human body, math has algebra. this book and the entire series is really good and i recomend it to everyone.
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  Laia

  There is a whole series of these "Basher" books on different topics. Great for generating interest if your kids like Poke-mon style characters. Some of the wit and points will go above a kid's head, but they will pick up some info. Great for fun reading that is "nutritious" and "delicious."
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  Jordan

  This book was awesome and i would really recommend reading it because it isn't hard but a simple read and the pictures are creative with some facts on the side. They go through most of the rocks and minerals you can find on the planet and give many details.
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  Ubalstecha

  Another outstanding entry in this series. Bright illustrations and engaging text make this a great way to introduce children to geology.
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  Mohammad

  Awesome book about the rocks and minerals and explains about what it is in the book