Mining (America at Work) - Hardcover

Jane Drake and Ann Love are sisters and co-authors of many bestselling books for children, including Kids and Grandparents: An Activity Book and The Kids Summer Cottage Book. They live in southern Ontario.

Pat Cupples is a children’s illustrator whose many books include The Math Book for Girls and Other Beings Who Count and The Technology Book for Girls and Other Advanced Beings. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Grade 2-4-In Mining, Trish and Jamie's upcoming hockey tournament prompts their parents to show them how the steel blades for ice skates are made. First they take a tour of mom's workplace, an underground mine shaft, and then of the steel mill where dad works. There, the children see how ore is changed into various usable metals, including stainless steel. The processes used to mine ore and fuels are discussed, as is what is being done to reclaim mining wastelands. In Fishing, Grandpa takes his granddaughter to his fish farm on the Maine coast. Readers learn about large trawlers that use underwater nets to catch fish as well as how they are hatched, grown, and sold. The girl then travels back to the West coast where her father, a fish and wildlife officer, describes his job and gives her a tour of nearby streams and rivers. Environmental issues such as overfishing are also discussed. While Drake and Love have chosen subjects and a format reminiscent of those by Gail Gibbons, the smaller text size, detailed explanations, and terminology in these two books are better suited to slightly older readers. The labeled pictures help younger children to follow along. These entries are colorful, descriptive, and detailed; the cheerful watercolor illustrations make otherwise dry subjects interesting.
Kit Vaughan, J. B. Watkins Elementary School, Midlothian, VA
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