A Handful of Dirt

Reading to variety of students as a substitute teacher in western Michigan.

A cute little book, maybe a 15 minute read, with nice pictures of generic garden critters and stuff like on the cover. God for a coffee table offering to those who have no idea about a garden. Obviously no meaningful substance.

This book was awesome! We did an extensive unit on dirt/soil last spring. My students were so into it and this book was marvelous! An excellent resource for the science classroom.

After reading the 5-star reviews of this book, I requested it from the library, and was disappointed. While it has some lovely photos and a pleasant tone, it suffers from lack of editing by a scientist.As naturalist and a parent, I think it's critical to get the information right, and the author misses the mark in too many cases. For example, the author states: "ground squirrels, gophers, and prairie dogs... prefer dry places." Hold on a minute--chipmunks and groundhogs are ground squirrels, too; you don't see many of those in dry places.Here's another: "ocean waves over time grind large stones into grains of sand on the beach." While that is true for some localities, the statement is misleading. The vast majority of beaches form when rivers deposit sediments in the oceans, and ocean currents transport the sediments to beaches. Those sediments formed miles away, not in situ.And perhaps worst, the section on mushrooms: "Those with bright colors or white gills are pure poison" -not always true! And "It's best to stay away from mushrooms, except those at the grocery store." Yes, but there's no "it's best" about it--never eat mushrooms collected outside unless you are an expert in mushroom identification--the author should make this absolutely clear.There are other factual errors as well. To some people, these may seem like minor quibbles, but I believe that if you're going to write a book, readers will believe you're an expert in the subject, and your information needs to be correct. This book serves as a vehicle for some nice photos; the text needs some work.

Beautifully illustrated with informative text. The photographs are spectacular! The text is engaging for students.