Island Grows, An (Hardcover)

~ Lola M. Schaefer (Author), Cathie Felstead (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2–This deceptively simple picture book traces the development of an island from an undersea volcanic eruption to a lush, bustling homeland. Similar in format and style to Schaefer's This Is the Sunflower (Greenwillow, 2000), it has large print and uses poetic language to describe a natural phenomenon: Waves pound./Sands mound. The colorful, bold collage illustrations are a perfect complement to the text. Like the narration, the seemingly elementary art is carefully composed, tells a complete story, and exudes energy. This appealing work can be used as a read-aloud, a beginning reader, or a basic science book. Isaac Nadeau's Islands (Rosen, 2006) and Angela Royston's Islands (Heinemann Library, 2004) cover the same topic in a traditional nonfiction series format.–Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
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From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. In this picture book Schaefer chronicles the formation of a volcanic island, the changes wrought by waves and weather, and the transformations brought about by the arrival of plants, insects, birds, and people. At the book's end, another volcano erupts beneath the sea, and the process begins again. Short phrases in rhymed couplets create a distinctive, staccato text for the simple geology lesson: "Stone breaks. / Water quakes. / Magma glows. / Volcano blows / Lava flows / and flows / and flows. / An island grows." The last page offers a more detailed description of the geological forces that form volcanic islands, followed by a short bibliography. As economical and vivid as the verse, Felstead's artwork will enable children to visualize the island in each stage of development--from a fiery magma beneath the water to a place with a distinctive ecosystem, community, and culture. A good choice for preschool and primary-grade science collections. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066239303
• ISBN-13: 978-0066239309
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,494 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Grades PK-8! Great Writing Model!, August 5, 2006

By	Jeff Anderson "writeguy1" (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lola has crafted a book that is both beautifully written and useful. The illustrations are fun and rich. Not only is the book to be enjoyed, but it teaches. Kids could learn far more about grammar from this book with it's lovely sentences of perfect sequence than they could from books intended to teach. "Stone breaks. Water quakes. Magma glows. Volcano blows." It seems so simple;however for students learning the core of sentences (subjects and powerful verbs), Lola's work has many layers. Fun, craft, and learning--incidental or analytic for older students. You have to get this book. Wouldn't it be fun for kids to write another book about a sequence in science or social studies content and use many of those two word sentences with powerful verbs like Lola does? Get it!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Supplement for teaching sentence fluency, October 22, 2007

By	Sylvia C. Hoke "Sylvia literacy coach" (Destin, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book works well for teachers who study Six Traits. It works on teaching short, simple sentences. Students who can write short, simple sentences in addition to long, flowing sentences have achieved sentence fluency.

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant language, evocative art, fascinating science, October 15, 2009

By	Experienced Editor (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews

The ideal picture book is a happy marriage of text and art. An Island Grows is a perfect picture book.
Brief text--just under 120 carefully chosen words--contains the bare facts of how a volcanic island is formed: "Deep, deep beneath the sea ... Stone breaks. Water quakes. Magma glows. Volcano blows."
Colorful illustrations composed of cut paper collages bring the information to life. The art grows across the page as the island grows in the ocean. At first only sharp, sheer black rocks emerge from a stormy sea; slowly green plants sprout from wind-blown seeds; in time, a profusion of flowers, insects, and birds take over the newly formed land.
Eventually, the infant island is discovered by sailors. "Ships dock. Traders flock. Settlers stay. Children play." Dancing, singing villagers celebrate life in an exuberant double-page spread. Each cadenced rhyme and intriguing collage adds to the image of this "busy island in the sea, where only water used to be."
Elegant language and evocative art would in themselves be enough to make any book a success, but An Island Grows offers a bonus: a fascinating geology lesson at a level accessible to preschoolers. For the read-aloud adult, notes at the end of the book contain just the right amount of background information to answer questions a child may have. The Earth's crust, for example, is compared to "plates of thick rock." Science becomes personal at the thought that these plates "move at the same speed that your fingernails grow."
The story is told in present tense because island formation isn't ancient prehistory; it's something that's still possible today. The island of Surtsey, near Iceland, was formed in 1963, less than 50 years ago. Who knows?--a new volcanic island could be in the news next month. And if it is, young children will understand what's happening--thanks to the science story told so well in An Island Grows.