Martian Rock

By Carol Diggory Shields

Book Overview

People have been asking this question for thousands of years, and will probably continue to ask for as long as there are stars in the sky. Apparently some, er, others have been asking the same question, and have sent a crew of explorers into space to search for an answer. Three brave astronauts and a mascot blast off, full of hope and full of yearning for intergalactic friendship. They endure a dizzying array of dangers in their quest and are about to give up when they make a surprising discovery. Young readers will be just as surprised -- when they hop on board this white-knuckle ride through the perils of the planets. Author and pilot Carol Diggory Shields is at the controls. Illustrator and navigator Scott Nash is responsible for the astonishing view out the window! Prepare for a far-out adventure, brought to you by the author and illustrator of the wildly popular prehistoric dance party, Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp, winner of a best-book award from the acclaimed Please Touch Museum for children.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763605980
• ISBN13: 9780763605988
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.9" x 10.9"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

GREAT BOOK

I have been reading this to my pre-schooler boys for over a year and we love it. Now they ask me all the time to name the planets and remind them which one is the green slimy one. It has sparked a real interest in astrology for my boys and I highly recommend it.

Excellent book to read aloud to kids - lots of fun!

I read lots of books to my 2 preschool girls, but Martian Rock is at the top of the charts. The playful rhymes make it fun for me to read aloud, and my kids get such a kick out of the story and the illustrations. As a bonus, there are 2 pages at the end of the book with interesting facts about each of the planets in the solar system (lots of info that many adults might not know). This is one of the few books I would run out and buy for a gift for any preschooler, boy or girl.

Shields/Nash Socko Space Saga

Every Martian, gazing out into the measureless heavens, has pondered the question "Is there anything out there?" "Martian Rock" answers this question for all time, and you'll love it even if you are Venusian, Plutonian, or Earthling. Four Martian astronauts take off in their shiny-red spacecar in search of intelligent life. It's a long and frustrating odyssey, as they flit from one visually-stunning but unpopulated planet to another. Exhausted and cranky and depleted of clean underwear, our heroes are ready to throw in the interstellar towel and head home, but they decide to make one last stop, and suddenly encounter life---maybe not spectacularly intelligent life, but indisputably genial. Carol Diggory Shields's clever story and charming rhyming text could captivate even the most cosmos-indifferent child, but it's Scott Nash's dazzlingly colorful and funny illustrations that would make "Martian Rock" a heavy-rotation item on any child's book-at-bedtime reading program. Parents will love it, too; it has the same transgenerational crossover appeal of "Toy Story".

I love it

I love all her books. Maybe that's just because she's my aunt. But no, they are entertaining. The kids I babysit for have them all. And the illustrations are good. Buy the books.