‘The Rocking Book of Rocks’ by Florence Bullough is a comprehensive guide to rocks, minerals, and gems. Written by geology experts, it covers everything you ever wanted to know about these fascinating subjects. From space rocks to gemstones, metals, volcanoes, and world wonders, this stunning book provides expert content alongside captivating artwork.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is an engaging book that will complement geology units in school, encourage the young rock collector, or just interest children in natural science!

I read this book with my 8 year old son. He has been fascinated with rocks for a while so it was perfect for us. The colorful pictures made it easy to identify the rocks were were looking for and it was organized nicely. I would highly recommend to any rock lovers out there. Thank you netgalley for an ARC.

I am always ready to try books for kids and have read a few non-fiction recently. I end up ordering the books for either my own shelf or for my nieces. This was no exception. Once I got down to it, I imagined the book in all its glory, with those colourful pages and really wanted to purchase it. One of my nieces actually likes rocks (or did till quite recently) and since she has just started reading I thought this would be captivating enough to get her invested in reading more for pleasure. We shall see later this month when the book finally gets delivered!

It covers comprehensive information starting with different types of rocks/minerals and gems, their origin and their current presence on our planet. The book has very brightly coloured pictures and tons of interesting facts that will hook anyone with even a glimmer of interest in either the natural world or those who like carrying strange interesting facts to whip out at gatherings to use as conversation fillers. If anyone fits both of those categories, I am sure the book will be a boon.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is completely based on my own reading experience.

3.5 stars.

This was simple yet informational and I enjoyed reading through the various topics.

My whole problem with this book is how sometimes crowded and abstract the art is. It seems they tried to make it as detailed as possible but it looks overly detailed that its crowded to me, especially the cover itself. Also bad color choice on the title name since it's not too visible. But there are times when the art looks really satisfying to the eyes and doesn't look crowded and the color pallets are cute for half of them.

Overall, I think children would like it, especially if they are interested. Art wise, since they're children, they might not focus too much on the art as much as I have.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

Title: The Rocking Books of Rocks
Author: Florence Bullough, Amy Ball
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group / Wide Eyed Editions
Publish day: August 6, 2019

It's a book about rocks. From moon rocks to creation of rocks/fossils. Colorful engaging imagery with easy to read text throughout the book. Great for classroom library / or just something to get the kid in your life who loves rocks.

Thanks to Negalley / Quarto Publishing for free download in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone could learn from and enjoy this intro to geology. Kids will love it for the brightly coloured pages and fascinating facts. From asteroids to volcanoes, sediments to dinosaurs, everyone can follow the tale of rocks. We see which types are formed by pressure and which by sedimentation, which gemstones are rock in nature and which are biological.

The illustrations make spotting and identifying rocks easy - correct terms are used, like conglomerate instead of pudding stone; but I spotted 'alachite' instead of malachite. This may have been corrected as I read an ARC. A handy glossary is at the back and any words capitalised in the text will be found in the glossary.

The only way to make this book better would have been activities like walking on a seashore or mountain to start a rock collection, going to a museum, and making things like jewellery or pet rocks. But parents and teachers can probably figure those out once the book is present.
I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

A really interesting book for all ages, well written, easy to read and understand with great examples and explanations.
Not being familiar with formation of the different stones, except precious stones, this book was excellent and I will be more on the look out on my rambles.
Great book for kids and young adults, well illustrated.

This book would make a great addition to any homeschooling library, teacher's classroom, and parent who knows a little budding geologist - lots of pictures and information on all different types of rocks, gemstones, and fossils!

Ever since I grew my first sugar crystal (with my father's help), I have been fascinated by the world of rocks! This book is a fantastic introduction into the world of geology and gemmology. Comprehensive, clear, beautifully-illustrated, well-organised- everything I could have ever asked from from a non-fiction book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wide Eyed Edition for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Bullough and Ball have proven themselves to be a formidable writing team in this stunningly-illustrated (by Alanko) book on geology, with a great title aimed at young readers. It's in glorious color and skips nothing in its story of how the superficially mundane, but underneath fascinating, rocks that we live on and around, came to be.

It's a hugely long story in the making, going back well over four billion years, but the authors have shrunk it down to easily digestible chunks, starting with what are rocks and minerals, and going through the formation of the Earth and a geological timeline (here there be dragons - aka dinosaurs!). There's an overview of the main three types of rock, and the book then goes into a bit more detail about igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock, how they're formed, and the interesting sub-types of rock formations that can be found within each, including fossils and precious stones.

The book not only talks about the rocks, crystals, and gems, but about how they came to be, and where they're found, and each double-page spread (there are about fifty of them - 100 or so pages in all) has gorgeous, detailed artwork. I learned things myself from this book that I hadn't known, and this is after I'd already put out my own modest book about crystals in my "The Little Rattuses" series, so it's not just the young 'uns who can learn from this. I enjoyed it and commend it fully as a fun, interesting, and educational book, and a tour de force of illustration.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for allowing this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Kids love rocks. Having this book on my shelf will allow me to give quick answers to their questions about the rocks they find everywhere!

The illustrations/graphic designs in this book are colorful and creative! I am drawn to something on each page.

The capitalization of the words in the text of the words in the index...brilliant!

I can just hear the kids who love to tell you what they have learned quoting the "Did You Know" boxes word for word.

As we focus on STEM in schools, this will be a valuable resource.