SCRATCHING the SURFACE: EXPLORING the EARTH'S LAYERS

Capstone Editions, 2025

Anyone who has been reading her for a while will realize how much I enjoy and admire nonfiction picture books. That's especially true for ones that offer depth and detail without forgetting the primary audience... young kids. The best among them appeal and inform the adults who may be reading the books to or with the little ones, and that's exactly the case for SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: EXPLORING THE EARTH'S LAYERS, written by Kate Allen Fox and Illustrated by Erin Brown.

I was very impressed and excited about the approach to text for such a potentially overwhelming or oversimplified topic. Before I pursue those thoughts, just take a careful look at that fantastic cover art (which wraps around to the back of the jacket as well. (I checked, and the hard case has the full cover art as well, which I applaud.) The details there, and on endpapers, are a portal to a scientific adventure inside th.e Earth

The illustrations are both vibrant and cartoonish in an easy to understand way, but also reflect the verifiable facts revealed in this entertaining text. The images indulge every kid's (or former kid's) desire to dig a hole through the Earth, to dig up diamonds or dinosaur bones, to find new answers to old questions. The layers shown in the cover image and endpapers deal with the crust of the Earth, but then the text leads readers deeper and deeper, with clarification about what we potentially can and can't reach by digging, and why that is. 

From fishing worms near the surface to the deepest fish fossils from the oldest seabeds, a whole world (OUR whole world) is revealed. Throughout, the pair of friends (diverse and delightful) center the story, bringing narrative back to their perspectives and awarenesses of the surface geology. Some diagrams and labels are inserted as well as data-rich sidebar text boxes, along with occasional speech-bubble-ish questions from kid-perspectives. These are all overlaid on double-page spreads, allowing both the expansiveness of the art and the particularity of the text to shine.

The illustrations work in tandem with terrific text, each enhancing and expanding the other. The main narration is presented in short segments of three to six lines in eye-friendly font. Those inserted questions or "wonders" are ones that a child on a lap might readily ask, simply and directly. Those lead the content forward as complex concepts unfold gradually and clearly. Small sidebars provide related technology content in paragraphs, in that parallel-text way that allows readers to read along with the main text in a first pass, or come back after the earlier reading, or turn back to particular pages later to locate details when needed. 

Science itself  takes center stage in kid-friendly ways, with a seismologist (female scientist of color, yay!) analyzing incoming data while the layers beneath the crust seem to twist and shift under her feet. Potential for those opening kid-characters shows them growing a bit older near the conclusion, participating in further exploration and realizing what is rarely pointed out in books at this level:

There are always more questions, since we've ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE! 

or, as I often said when teaching science- This is what we know SO FAR!

The author note briefly expands on the idea of geologic studies in past, present, and the potential future, followed by a simple chart of the SCIENTIFIC METHOD, a glossary, and suggested further readings. 

Every bit of this book is mind-expanding and engaging, inviting teachers, librarians, and families to add it to their shelves and enjoy often. For more books on rocks and Earth stories, check HERE, HERE, HERE.