I give this book a four out of five star rating. Eruption: The Story of Volcanoes explains how volcanoes come to be and how they impact different places such as Hawaii, the Caribbean sea, Italy, and much more! This book's use of text features is beneficial for beginning readers to help them learn how to utilize them as well as point information from the text out. The book has easy to read sentences that incorporate academic language and bold and bright photographs. It's written in a way that shares a very detailed story about volcanoes, instead of just stating facts about volcanoes. The only thing missing from this text is bold print in the paragraphs for key terms related to information about volcanoes. But still, the information is interesting and phenomenally written! ( )

Because this book does not have many pictures to support the text, I would only use this book in guided reading groups for the purpose of examining the text, and the sparing illustrations that support it. The text includes sequencing of events and descriptive attributes that a guided reading group can list out and discuss. Cause and effect is also very evident in this book, which could also be the entire purpose of the guided reading group. For example, the book discusses that when a volcano stops erupting, it forms a crater. When a crater is left, sometimes water fills up into it. There are a lot of cause and effect events that take place, so the entirety of the guided reading group could consist of a lesson on cause and effect using this book. ( )

This is a wonderful early reader text about the science of volcanoes. This is an informative book that will interest any child who is fascinated by volcanoes and how and why they are formed. There are fabulous pictures of all types of volcanoes and some of the effects that happen when they erupt. For difficult to read volcano or location names, phonetic pronunciations are provided.

This book is a must in any science corner to help students learn abut geology and reinforce their reading skills. Students could very easily be asked to journal their replies to what they learned, practice writing a summary of the book, or give a presentation on their favorite parts of volcanoes to the class. It also provides options for students to look up on a map or global where some of the volcanoes are throughout the world and bring in multiple connections to other subject matters such as social studies in researching the history of Pompeii in Italy. ( )

One of the books from the DK Readers beginning reader series, this one about volcanoes, and written at a level where children are beginning to read alone but still need a little assistance. The sentences are simple and yet the voice is engaging, with plenty of content words introduced and explained clearly. The text begins with explanations of volcanoes, and scientific information is given in easy doses that young children can understand, then proceeds to examine different types of volcanoes and what rolls they have played in history, ending with contemporary views of volcanoes and the scientists who study them.

As with most books they produce, DK has done another stellar job of creating a rounded and complete book. The author does her part in creating text that is easy to read and interesting, but that text is complemented with great photographic illustrations, relevant scientific information in side bars, and bits of trivia at the end. This book is vastly different from the old school beginning reader, where so much focus was on using language that was easy to read that the writers and publishers forgot to make it appealing to children. This is a great book from a great series aimed at teaching children how to read. ( )