Stone Wall Secrets [Hardcover]

Kristine Thorson (Author), Robert Thorson (Author), Gustav Moore (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2003 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

As Adam and his grandfather work together to repair the family farm's old stone walls, Adam learns how fascinating geology can be, and how the everyday landscape provides intriguing clues to the past. "Stone Wall Secrets" also shows positive family dynamics, illustrated in richly detailed paintings. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This elegantly designed book has an intriguing premise but loses its potential in a scattered focus and overburdened text. As the story opens, Adam's grandfather mulls over a difficult proposition: a stonemason's letter offers him an attractive sum for the rocks that compose the walls surrounding his New England farmstead. As Adam and his grandfather deliberate while walking the grounds, Grampa attempts to awaken in his grandson an affection for these stones as living history: "The walls were like a library, stacked high with earthen books." However, the authors soon bury any semblance of a story under layers of geologic, anthropological and familial information. The well-meaning text devolves into an environmental treatise, eschewing narrative credibility (e.g., Adam "slipped the grainy, white stone into his pocket, like a paperback book to be read on a rainy day"). Unfortunately, the pictorial representations of the grandfather's visions which imply his nearly mystical connection to rocks do little to lighten things up. First-timer Moore's illustrations, defined by ink lines and subtle colors, are mostly stiff and static, and often miss opportunities to clarify the text. Ages 8-12. (July) FYI: An 80-page teacher's guide is scheduled for release in August ($8.95 ISBN -196-4).
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-A grandfather gives his grandson a lesson in geology, history, and family pride as they examine the stone walls defining his New England farmstead. From shale formed beneath prehistoric seas to the campfires of Paleoindians to the oxen teams and stone sleds of the European pioneers and his own boyhood, the elderly man gently presents a panorama spanning eons, rounded off with his family memories. Often filling two pages, the colorful, realistic paintings provide a clear picture of past and present as the pair try to decide if they should accept a stonemason's offer to buy the walls for reconstruction elsewhere. Rather didactic in tone, the book has a teacher's guide (subtitled Exploring Geology in the Classroom) by geologist Ruth Deike. While there is plenty here for inquiring minds, casual readers may be few, but imagine a unit on walls, complete with geology, history, art, and geography. Consider pairing this book with such titles as Frances Weller's luminous Matthew Wheelock's Wall (1992), Leonard Fisher's monolithic The Great Wall of China (1986, both Macmillan), and Margy Knight's Talking Walls (1992) and Talking Walls: The Stories Continue (1996, both Tilbury House), perhaps introduced by a reading of Frost's poem, "Mending Walls."-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884481956
• ISBN-13: 978-0884481959
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,220,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great story with relevant and accurate science, January 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stone Wall Secrets (Hardcover)

A unique perspective that uses science and social principles to illustrate and set up a real world problem for the reader and Adam to solve. Highly accurate geologic illustrations add depth to the story. I've made great tie-ins to real world problems from this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Children's Book, August 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Stone Wall Secrets (Hardcover)

I think this is the best children's book available. I love the story and the great plot that children can learn from. Truly an exceptional book for children. Adam is a fascinating character and a deep one for children to relate to. Absolutely a must read.for your young child.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an enjoyable read, December 19, 2010

By 

Wayne S. Walker "Home School Book Review" (Salem, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stone Wall Secrets (Paperback)

Of what possible use could a bunch of old stone walls on a farm be to a young person today? Adam's grandfather lives on a New England farm with many old stone walls. A mason wants to buy all the stones for buildings in the city, and Grandpa wonders what Adam thinks about it. At first, Adam suggests that Grandpa just get rid of them and make some money. But Grandpa says that it's not so simple. As the two walk along the walls, Grandpa tells Adam how the stone began as sediment from an ancient ocean, then was thrust up as mountains when continents collided, and was scraped and carried by scouring glaciers.
Then Grandpa reminds Adam how Paleoindians used the stones for hunting mammoths, how the settlers dug them out of the ground to build the walls, and finally how he himself and his sister played on them when they were children. Co-author Robert Thorson is a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Along with Adam, the reader learns how fascinating geology can be, but in addition this charming story also shows a positive family dynamic between different generations. Also, it is said that Adam was adopted, and as the father of two adopted sons I always appreciate books for young people which portray adopted children in typical family relationships. It was quite an enjoyable read. An accompanying teacher's guide for using the book to explore geology in the classroom by Ruth Deike is also available.