Julie the Rockhound

When a young girl finds a sparkly rock buried in the dirt and discovers that it cleans to a beautiful quartz crystal, she is fascinated and becomes Julie the Rockhound. Join Julie as her dad shows her how to dig for minerals and explains the wonders of crystal formation. Combining clever wordplay with earth science, young readers learn about Earth’s most abundant mineral ＂treasure.＂ This work of narrative nonfiction includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 52-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Julie the Rockhound is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Lisa Downey is a freelance artist and graphic designer. Although she has always been interested in illustrating children’s books, it was not until she worked with an in-house design firm at a paperboard book manufacturer that she realized children’s books should be her focus. The combination of illustration, design and 3D surfaces to tell a story encompasses everything she has learned and enjoys doing. Lisa’s style ranges from cartoonish to very representational. Her favorite medium is pastels. Lisa has illustrated Blackberry Banquet, Julie the Rockhound and Happy Birthday to Whooo? for Arbordale. She lives in the SC Lowcountry, with her very supportive husband, Len, and their cats; Pom Pom and Ophelia. Visit Lisa’s website: http: //www.lisadowney.com/