The Rock Factory: a story about rocks and stones

Jacqui Bailey (author)

Matthew Lilly (illus)

Blake Education Australia: 2006

ISBN: 1921143037

Genres: factural text, geology, information text, non-fiction, science

This reader-friendly text introduces the rock cycle - the structure of the Earth (crust, mantle and cone) and the forces it contains that lead to the creation of the rocks we see in our land.

Information is provided in small bites, using a chatty tone that nevertheless introduces readers to correct terms such as crystals, pressure, minerals, magma, lava etc. Illustrations are slightly cartoonish in style but provide a clear image of the process being described, using bright colours and speech bubbles with very bad puns!

By following one particular stone through its creation process until its final discovery by a boy in South Africa, the text maintains a narrative focus often missing from non-fiction texts. The final pages of the book include longer segments of information about the three types of rock (igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary), minerals, diamonds and volcanoes. A simple salt crystal experiment is included. Part of the Science Works series, this is an excellent introductory text for units relating to rocks and minerals and the Earth's structure.

Same series: Drop in the Ocean (water); Down to Earth (gravity); Charging About (electricity); Staying Alive (food chain); Cracking Up (erosion); Sun Up, Sun Down (day/night)