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Reviewed by:
  • Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
  • Elizabeth Bush
Chin, Jason Grand Canyon; written and illus. by Jason Chin.
Porter/Roaring Brook, 2017 [46p]
ISBN 978-1-59643-950-4 $19.99
Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 3-5

As father and daughter hike their way from their Colorado River bank campsite on up to the rim of the Grand Canyon, Chin’s readers accompany them (far less strenuously), observing and delighting in the geological wonders along the way. An opening map and endnote information orient the audience to the backpackers’ route along the South Kaibab Trail up to the canyon’s South Rim. It’s a necessarily limited view of the canyon but one that boasts more than a dozen easily identifiable geological strata, which Chin diagrams early in the text and refers to continually throughout the trek. Just watching the scenery go by in Chin’s sumptuous watercolors could be satisfaction enough for many readers, but textual commentary on the rock formations, as well as the ecological communities of flora and fauna [End Page 210] in the changing climate zones, form the basis of a multidisciplinary science lesson far more engrossing than kids are likely to encounter in a classroom. The stellar book design is not only an aesthetic pleasure but it also assists readers in integrating various threads of the canyon’s complex story. Diagrams of geological formations and sketches of plants and animals run along the bottom and sides of many spreads, while subtle die-cut openings embedded in the landscape signal a whimsical glance into geological time at the page turn, as the girl is momentarily transported back into the relevant time period. Six pages of end matter expand the discussion (with particular attention to the canyon’s carving), offer resources for further investigation, and touch on Chin’s approach to illustration (and a few pictorial liberties taken.) A double foldout panoramic view of the canyon is a breathtaking bonus, and readers may be sorely tempted to remove that scene and tack it to the bedroom wall.

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