Review: The Mineral Book by David McQueen

One of the challenges when teaching topics that fall under the earth science category is that the majority of books are evolutionary.  That is not some thing you need to worry about when purchasing from Master Books.  Not only are their books free of evolution, they also give honor and glory to God.  As part of the Moms of Masterbooks Team, I recently had an opportunity to reveiw one of the newest books in the Wonders of Creation series, The Mineral Book by David McQueen.

The Mineral Book is a 96 page hardcover book that is available from New Leaf Publishing Group for $16.99.  The book is color coded for 3 different skill levels: Level One for young readers, Level Two for older, more skilled readers, and Level 3 for advanced readers.  The book is full of information, full color pictures, and illustrations.  There are 8 Chapters in The Mineral Book:

Chapter 1: Where Do We Find Minerals?
Chapter 2: What Is A Mineral?
Chapter 3: How Do I Identify a Mineral?
Chapter 4: Discovering the Minerals in the Bible
Chapter 5: A World of Valuable Minerals
Chapter 6: Minerals and Creation Science
Chapter 7: Minerals and the Lordship of Jesus
Chapter 8: Building a Mineral Collection

At the end there is a beautiful full color Mineral Identification Guide, a list of Bible References for Minerals and Metals, a Periodic Table of Elements, and a poster of Mineral Pigments Around the World.





I so wish we had this book a few months ago.  We live very close to the world's only public diamond mine in the world (which by the way is mentioned in the book) and we took a field trip there in the fall.  The children brought home loads of minerals that we really knew nothing about.  This book would have been a great help to us before we had visited the diamond mine.

The Mineral Book is packed full of information and as mentioned above is split up into three different reading levels.  The book is probably best geared for middle school students, but even the youngest children can enjoy this book simply by looking at the pictures.  Aren't  they gorgeous?

I love the information about minerals that were mentioned in the Bible, the scriptures and fun facts that are included,  and the information about how they are used today.  There is a wonderful section on mineral identification that would be helpful to both students and hobbyists. Also there are great tips for starting (and sharing) your own mineral collection.

While we may have missed out on the opportunity to do an in depth study of minerals before our trip to the diamond mine, by using The Mineral Book we have learned about and learned how to recognize different mineral.  This information will be useful to the children for the next field trip, the back yard, and for starting their own mineral collection.  But most importantly it teaches about the creativity of God and the gift of God's grace and provision in our lives.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations.