Rocks and Minerals [Paperback]

DK Publishing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1995 | Age Level: 8 and up

How can platinum help reduce pollution? What makes rubies red and sapphires blue? Why is graphite used to make pencils? The answers to these questions and many more are packed within the pages of Pockets: Rocks and Minerals.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (March 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564586634
• ISBN-13: 978-1564586636
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 3.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,622,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Its a very good book, colorful, a little short but good., January 14, 2002

By 

Jaime R. Castro Cano "Rodrigo" (Chihuahua, Chihuahua Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rocks and Minerals (Paperback)

Its a good book for beginners on this field, you wont find all of the rocks out there, but youll learn quickly about the major differences and characteristics of some rocks...

It is very colorful, pictures are awesome, and I liked that the book tells you about rock and mineral uses, as well as in the ancient times as in today.

I recommend it as an introductory book on the matter, then you should move to a more detailed book. I gave it 5 stars Considering that it is a pocket book.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good content hampered by small size, January 2, 2009

By 

amanooensis (Flyover Country) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rocks & Minerals (DK Pockets) (Paperback)

When they call this a "pocket" book they really mean it. As usual, DK has packed a lot of information and images into a single volume. But to make it so small, there are (in my opinion) too many compromises.

I suspect that DK has a book with very similar content in a bigger size, and that the content was simply rearranged and reduced in size to make it fit the Pocket concept. In other words, it's as if they took a regular book and printed it in a "zoomed" version 1/4 the size or less.

As a result, the text is small. As in most DK books, there's a variety of typefaces and sizes. Well, in this one, the smallest type sizes are really tiny! You can read them, but it sure takes some effort. I found it uncomfortable.

Naturally, all the photographs have to be smaller, too. And because there's not enough space on a single page to fit any reasonable-size picture, many photographs of rocks and minerals -- although usually colorful and detailed -- are split across two pages.

Splitting photos across the binding is a compromise one can accept in a budget-priced book. But in this case it's really problematic, because this tiny book has a very tight binding. To get any view of such pictures, you're tempted to squash the pages flat on either side. Do that enough, and this inexpensive binding won't hold up. Meanwhile, you're still dealing with the distraction of a two-part image and the physical effort to hold the pages open.

The typical DK book is designed as much for browsing as for straight-through reading. But at this size, that design approach breaks down. Two pages of text and images fit into a space far smaller than a single page in a typical book. In a larger book, your eye scans across a page, but at this size, the whole thing meets your eye at once.

In short, it took me only a minute or two to wish I had spent a bit more and bought a full-size book, whether from DK or whomever. There are quite a few on Amazon that looked promising, but I bought this instead because of the low promotional pricing. Lesson learned.

(Here are a few available from Amazon that give an idea of what I mean: Rock & Mineral (DK Eyewitness Books), or Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals (Smithsonian Handbooks), or Rocks and Minerals (Eye Wonder)). There are many more, I'm sure.)

I honestly don't know what to make of all the reviewers who make no mention of these issues. It's true that the content is pretty good, but it's not an exhaustive summary of the topic, or necessarily the best of its type.

The fact that the book is small does not (in my view) mean that it's better for kids. On the contrary, it seems to me that it is stiffer and harder to manipulate than a bigger book. And since when do kids' books have *smaller* typefaces than usual?

I think it attracts a youngster's eye because it presents a variety of colors and textures. But I would not recommend it either as a kid's first introduction to this topic, or as a reference book for children who are looking for more detailed information. Both purposes are served better by other books.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative yet Kid Friendly, January 11, 2007

By 

Lisel (Toccoa, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rocks and Minerals (Eye Wonder) (Hardcover)

This book is so colorful and easy to read that all of my children, even my son who doesn't like to read, picked up this book on their own and read it before I did. The content was well presented and is helpful for any study of rocks and minerals. There is informatian there that I didn't even know.