The Pebble in My Pocket: A History of Our Earth

Product Information

The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network is a UK-wide citizen science initiative that allows you to get hands-on with nature, whatever your age, background or level of ability.

The Pebble in My Pocket: A History of Our Earth : Hooper

Meredith Hooper is an historian by training and the author of many books, ranging in subject from Antarctica to aviation, from the history of water to the history of inventions. At the back of the book is a geological timeline showing the main period of the earth's history, starting from 4600 million years ago. It uses a lot of descriptive language and there will be a lot of opportunities to discuss new words. I am looking forward to teaching with it and I hope and think that the children will love it (when broken down into digestible chunks). This narrative takes the reader into the deep and distant past to witness the formation of the rock from whence came the pebble held by the child in the first picture.I also like the additional historical timeline at the end which I think would be quite intriguing for a child.

The Pebble in my Pocket by Meredith Hooper

A history of our Earth, from a mostly geological perspective, follows the journey of a single pebble from before anything lived on our planet right back to the moment where it rests between the fingertips of an inquisitive girl. However, in my opinion, this tool is not utilised enough as the middle section is quite long with a very matter of fact tone. Coadys’ intricate illustrations teamed with Hoopers’ detailed narrative makes for an engrossing and informative read. We used this as a springboard to learn about different types of rocks, geologic ages, and much more. This series of conversations with high profile authors is designed for teachers and librarians interested in reading and children’s books.This book creatively appears to blur the line between fiction and non-fiction, Hooper presenting a geological history of a pebble, right up to the present day where it is picked up by a curious young girl who questions its journey up to now. A factual text blended with literary language and illustrated with cross-hatched pictures in earthy colours. The book is based upon a single pebble and how that is formed, however, the animals that are illustrated are from locations all over the world and were included to show a typical geological time in which they lived.