Cave Detectives: Unraveling the Mystery of an Ice Age Cave [Hardcover]

David L. Harrison (Author), Ashley Mims (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: 2 and up

What was life like millions of years ago? The answer lies deep underground, in a place once home to a ferocious predator much larger than most animals walking around today. Through photographs and detailed illustrations, readers will learn how the secrets buried in a midwestern hillside helped scientists understand early life on Earth. This book's simple but informative format allows readers to follow along as paleontologist Matt Forir and his team of experts unravel a prehistoric mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The story opens "before humans arrived in North America," with a short-faced bear surprising a band of peccaries inside a cave, catching one, and biting off its foot. Some 55,000 years later, in 2001, a Missouri road crew uses explosives to blow off a hillside and discovers the Riverbluff Cave. Scientists summoned to the site discover traces of many prehistoric species, including the claw marks of a short-faced bear 14 feet off the ground. Harrison's vivid descriptions of the animals, the cave, and the scientists are complemented by the original art and photos that work together unusually well. Watercolor-and-pencil illustrations dramatize scenes of animals in the remote past as well as the story of the cave's discovery and exploration, while photos document findings such as the peccary's severed foot and the claw marks of enormous prehistoric bears. This concludes with a time line and a glossary. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

David L. Harrison holds a bachelor's degree in zoology, and a master's degree in parasitology, the study of parasites. He even has a 300 year old fossil named after him. This is his third book on the subject of caves, his lifelong love. He lives in Missouri.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811850064
• ISBN-13: 978-0811850063
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,818,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Harrison was born in Springfield, Missouri. He has lived in Ajo, Arizona (as a boy), Atlanta, Georgia (as a graduate student), Evansville, Indiana (as a pharmacologist), Kansas City, Missouri (as an editorial manager) and back in Springfield (as a business owner). Counting his first poems at age six, David has been a writer most of his life and has produced 80 published books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that have won dozens of awards. He holds two degrees in science and two honorary doctorates of letters (MSU and Drury University). He is poet laureate for Drury and David Harrison Elementary School was named in his honor. He regularly speaks at conferences and visits schools.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Going hiking, January 29, 2010

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Janice M. Kohler "Mrs. Kohler" (Nixa, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cave Detectives: Unraveling the Mystery of an Ice Age Cave (Hardcover)

The cave is right by our house. I was able to meet David L. Harrison. So the book is special to me.