This is a great resource for teachers and children interested in exploring the layers of the Earth. The descriptions are kid friendly and informative. The illustrations are lovely and a great visual. I love how the author encourages students to wonder and think like scientists. She is candid that science changes as new discoveries are made and encourages children to become to scientists to discover new things.

Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I recognize the author from a couple of her books in my classroom, so I was excited to read this and was not disappointed. With fun illustrations that show the different layers of the Earth, the author teaches a lot about science while still telling a story. I am happy to add this to my collection of informational books about science.

I received an ARC of this children's book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful book. The illustrations are beautifully done and the text is informative while still interesting!

This book seems a bit confused about what age group it's intended for. The length and illustrations suggest it's for younger children, but most of the text is better for older kids. Some of the writing is almost prose, and there are full paragraph captions. The illustrations are cute, and the information is a good introduction for little scientists.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Wonderfully accessible way of presenting such a interesting topic. I love how the upper narration of the book presents the information in a simple way, yet there are paragraphs with deeper knowledge on the different layers.

Thank you, Capstone, NetGalley, and Kate Allen Fox for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Scratching the surface was fun, informative, and beautifully illustrated. I love that there are some great vocabulary words, and enough information to be suited for older children, but with the great illustrations and questions throughout the book, there are many talking points for younger learners as well. As a preschool teacher, I could see my students enjoying this!

This is such a beautifully illustrated book and a wonderful introduction to earth science. I loved this kind of science best when I was in school, and this could encourage other kids to learn more.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This was a great read! Perfect for kids! The text was easy to understand yet thought provoking, informational but still a fun read that keeps kids attention and the illustrations were well done too. I learned something new about the earth’s crust that I’d never even knew before!
This is a book I will definitely be adding as a small supplement to our homeschooling when it’s officially published. I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to enrich their kids learning experience in a fun and enjoyable way!
Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Allen Fox and the publisher Capstone for the advanced copy!

Netgalley ARC - This is fantastic! I think the text is easy to follow and strikes a good balance of information and more flowery, sensory-engaging language. The art is really really beautiful!

Informative, engaging, and really pretty to look at, this is about all you could want out of an nonfiction children's book.

A novel geared toward younger grades that is the perfect introduction of the basics of geology and the layers of the earth. It explains some complicated principles in accessible language and its well-done and visually rich illustrations provide more context and interest in the information it shares. My children particularly liked seeing the cross sections of layers and gaining insight to what's going on below the earth's surface - concepts that may not have really occurred to my younger ones just yet. The language is prosaic and has touches of whimsy here and there, making it one of those bedtime stories that parents don't mind reading to their kids on repeat at bedtime for days or weeks on end.

I’m going to say right off the top that this gorgeously illustrated STEM book belongs in every elementary and middle school classroom. Pre-order this now so you have it when school starts in the autumn!

This book is a fantastic, easy-to-understand way to teach kids about what’s beneath our feet. From the Earth’s crust to the inner core, readers will learn about the materials that make up our planet, like granite, basalt, magma, carbon, iron, and nickel.

While nothing is overly complicated, the book does sprinkle in some technical terms like magnetic field, radiation, heat, pressure, plate tectonics, and temperature. These words can become great learning opportunities when a parent or teacher reads along with a child.

The book is also packed with lots of cool facts… or maybe I should say “hot” facts. My favorite is that the temperature of earth’s inner core is estimated to reach almost 10,000°F (5,500°C)!

Understanding some basic knowledge about Earth is a good thing. As a kid, I would have absolutely adored this book.

Thank you @netgalley and Capstone for the eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Sweet nonfiction look at the different layers of the Earth and earth science. I particularly liked the illustrations with cutaways of the strata.

How much do we really know about the earth? What has been left untouched? Or what do we know about somethings, but have hardly.. scratched the surface! This was a well done, engagingly written and illustrated children's book. It felt like great, thought provoking information, but in a way that wouldn't be overwhelming to a young reader. It would be a great read aloud in a classroom! It gave prompts and info you could dive deeper into. There's so much more to learn about the world we live in, around us and underneath the surface. The main way we can do that? Stay curious and don't be satisfied with just 'scratching the surface' !

Great book about the composition of the earth and all its layers. The book clearly explains the layers of the earth and what we know about each layer. I really appreciated how they acknowledged how our knowledge of how these layers work has changed over time and will continue to change. This creates great opportunities for discussion and reflection. A must have for public libraries and school libraries.

Very informative but quite wordy for a children's book. It was a fun read and the illustrations were really nice as well

Scratching the Surface digs into the layers of the earth in an engaging and educational way. This book would make a great supplement to an earth science curriculum for grades 1-4. Kate Allen Fox’s writing is thorough, informative and age appropriate. Scratching the surface is sure to generate questions and foster imagination within young, aspiring scientists.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Allen Fox, Erin Brown, and Capstone Editions for this wonderful ARC, I look forward to using this when planning earth science units!

This was a GORGEOUS book and so well done! Age appropriate language and the pictures were amazing and beautiful - I learned so much and stayed engaged the whole book! I think this will be a must-have on your kiddo’s bookshelves!

Fascinating! This book is easy to read and understand. It is well illustrated. And most importantly, it was informative in a way that made me want to keep reading and learning.

A lovely science book for children.

This is so cute and informative. The artwork is adorable!!! Definitely one of the better kids science books I have read. Love Geology. LOVED the artwork.