Weird Rocks - Book Giveaway
May 06, 2013
Posted By: Shaunescy
Weird Rocks
By Michele Corriel Illustrated by Dan Bilyeu Reviewed by Sammy Farmer ISBN 978-0-87842-597-6
Price $12.00
Hey! Montana Parent just happens to have a copy of Weird Rocks that we’ll be giving away on the MTParent.com blog. Help us build an online list of where to find the best rocks with your little ones by leaving a comment below. Maybe it's your favorite fishing hole and the kids love the river rocks or it could be a campground that has a scattering of mica. You tell us. Contest will run from May 6th-10th. Get outside and inspire your small ones.
Local author of the middle grade novels, Fairview Felines: A Newspaper Mystery and True Lies: A Newspaper Mystery, Michele Corriel has done it again. Her new book Weird Rocks is a non-fiction, must-have guide for your young rock hound. Kids love collecting rocks and this title is the perfect motivation for kids to go outside and get a firmer grasp on the stuff of the earth.
Mountain Press, widely known for it’s popular and concise rock hounding guides like Roadside Geology of Montana, publishes Weird Rocks. During screen free week, you might just take the opportunity to get outside and discover some weird rocks of your very own.
The book is illustrated in a very kid friendly way by Bozeman artist, Dan Bilyeu. His often humorous and bright, water-color depictions of the many weird properties of rocks clearly depict the amazing things that rocks can do. Such as: sail across a dessert, glow, come from space, attract metal, float and even burn.
Photographs by Tom Ferris of the various samples that Michele describes are also included and add to the richness of these very approachable lessons about rocks. The combination of writing, illustration and photos make this book a fantastic bedrock of beginner knowledge.
Weird Rocks and Roadside Geology of Montana are available for purchase at the Country Bookshelf.
List of Rock Hounding destinations to get you started:
Earth’s Treasures
25 N. Willson Ave.?Bozeman, Montana
Check in with their knowledgeable staff and simply take in their wide varieties of rock and mineral samples as well as equipment for your fieldwork!
Lewis & Clark Caverns
25 Lewis and Clark Caverns Rd. ?Whitehall, MT 59759
http://stateparks.mt.gov/lewis-and-clark-caverns/
Camp, hike and experience amazing geologic wonders at Montana's first and best-known state park showcase of one of the most highly decorated limestone caverns in the Northwest.
Crystal Park
http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/bdnf/recreation/rocks-minerals
65 miles SW of Butte, MT
Crystal Park is a popular recreational mineral collection area on the Pioneer Scenic Byway in southwest Montana. The Dillon and Wise River Ranger Districts work to promote, develop, and maintain this site for recreation. There is a recreational use fee of $5.00 per vehicle which goes to help maintain the area. The park is open for quartz crystal digging from May 15 to October 15, depending on snow and road conditions. The facilities are universally accessible.
Gem Mountain
P.O. Box 148
201 W. Broadway
Philipsburg, MT 59858
Gem Mountain in Montana was first developed in the 1890's and has since produced more than 180 million carats of sapphires! Sapphires are some of the rarest gemstones in the world, but not here. No admission to visit; you only pay if you choose to sift through a bucket of natural sapphire gravel.
--------------
