The Street Beneath My Feet (Look Closer)

A foldout, concertina format creates a visceral sense of a journey to the center of the Earth as readers travel past storm drains, buried artifacts, a subway, and many layers of rock on their way to the planet's inner core. Zommer's illustrations are a hive of subterranean activity, and Guillain's captionlike bursts enthuse about everything readers are seeing: "These small drips build up to make big stalactites," she writes as spikes pile up beside an underground river. "It can take hundreds of years!" On the way back up (on the reverse side of the pages), readers observe minerals, metamorphic rock, fossils, nesting badgers, a fox den, and finally topsoil as they approach the surface. Although the book spends most of its time in the Earth's crust, a closing page gives a better sense of just how much real estate the mantle and core take up. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)

Gr 2-4--This informative oversize book takes curious readers on a journey to the center of the earth and back. A boy walks down a noisy city street, his red sneakers pounding the pavement, and he wonders, "What's going on deep in the ground?" Level by level, he describes what can be found beneath his feet. Beginning with cables and pipes, earthworms and insects, then moving on to subway systems and the artifacts of lost civilizations, the boy delves deeper and deeper, highlighting the unique characteristics of each layer of the earth's crust, mantle, and core. Replete with intriguing scientific facts, this engrossing title offers a fine overview of basic earth science. The intricate illustrations deftly reinforce the text, which is scattered from top to bottom throughout each spread. The pictures flow seamlessly from one layer to the next, drawing viewers' eyes down the page. The many atmospheric details inspire closer examination of each underground level. Observant readers will spot centipedes and sewer rats, ancient helmets and coins, fish swimming in an underground river, sparkling gems and gleaming metals, fossilized shells and preserved skeletons, and, closest to the surface, burrowing forest animals. The foldout design of the book does make turning the pages a bit awkward. However, unfolding the entire accordion and stretching it out on the floor allow for a more comfortable reading experience. VERDICT This scientific exploration is a good choice for most libraries and provides a captivating snapshot of myriad popular topics, covering everything from plant and animal life, rock formations, and plate tectonics to archaeology, paleontology, and mineralogy. Aspiring scientists will enjoy the journey and want to pore over the pages.--Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston

"The painted, stenciled, and collaged illustrations are full-bleed, and the tones graduate pleasantly from light colors at the surface of the Earth to rich pinks, yellows, and oranges as readers near the Earth's core. The text is informative...including such nuggets as "earthworms are expert recyclers, eating dead plants in the soil." An unusual offering for the young geology nerd."—Kirkus Reviews - Kirkus Reviews

"The earth science is simple but made glorious by the illustrations, homely and fantastic at once, as in a picture of a subway car, headlights streaming, above a layer of sedimentary rock and, further below, caves with spiky stalactites and stalagmites. The pictures are packed with detail, but each one says adventure—look, diamonds!—as much as education." - The Horn Book