The patrons at my library are always looking for hands-on, outdoor activities to do with children. This was a great title to add to our collection to meet that need. It tends to fly off displays, probably in part thanks to the colorful cover. Highly recommended for curious young geologists.

I LOVE these Backpack Explorer books! They're also quite popular at our library, so I will definitely be adding the Rock Hunt title to our collection. There's a variety of activities that would be well-suited for children of all ages, though I feel this would best be enjoyed by children ages 8-12. The book also has a great balance of beautiful and engaging illustrations and geological facts.

Thanks to the publisher, Storey Publishing, the author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Backpack Explorer: Rock Hunt: What Will You Find? By Editors of Storey Publishing, Illustrator: Oana Befort. 2023. Storey Publishing (ARC eBook).

Are you ready to be a rock hound? The books starts out by informing how young explorers can prep for the outdoors and rock-hounding. From there the text, illustrations and photographs introduce various types of rocks; and for each type there are multiple prompts given: like asking the reader if they can find a pebble of a particular color, or to float a rock on a bark boat. The physical books will also come with a magnifying glass and a sheet of 12 “I see it!” stickers so that kids can record what rocks and minerals they find rock-hounding in the book.

The text is variable sizes and busy at times, which might make it harder for younger readers. And I wonder if there is a way to quickly navigate to sections of the books, like maybe tabs or color coding? But overall, this interactive book should help prompt the reader’s imagination and visual and tactile senses.

This short (50 page) book is for the rock lovers out there! I was the kid who got fussed at constantly because mom always found rocks in our washing machine. Now I’m an adult, so no one yells at me for it!

This book includes activities like learning about the different types of rocks and minerals, having a pet rock, looking for wishing and skipping stones, and creating your own rock collection. The rock pet is fun because it’s made only out of things found in nature; they also recommend making a face by stacking things on a boulder or painting on a rock with water. It has twelve stickers for kids to put on certain pages in the book once they’ve identified a specific type of rock out in nature. Also included are fun ways to incorporate rocks into the trip without picking them up and taking them.

There are some interesting and helpful geography and geologic terms included. Sometimes instead of including technical terms the book described what it meant instead. This was a great approach because it kept the text from getting bogged down in jargon. When it discusses a type or characteristic of rock (boulder, smooth, colors and patterns, igneous, etc.) there’s a page of scavenger hunt items related to that type of rock or characteristic.
The only thing I disliked was that it ended abruptly just after the igneous rock section and a scavenger hunt page about how the rocks feel. I would have liked one more page either as a summary, with questions for the child, or maybe even a bit more in depth about making a rock collection and its organization.

Overall, if you have a child in their life who likes rocks, this would be the perfect gift. The number of activities that don’t include taking things from nature is awesome, and I love that it’s an easy introduction to the types of rocks and building your own collection (mine was haphazard in a shoebox, theirs is much more organized). I highly recommend this book! My thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Rockhounding is something that comes naturally to members of our family, especially when considering we would go camping in the mountains. Although I can't tell one type of rock or mineral from another one I can still say they attract my sight whether shiny or plain-seeming so this book was a definite shoo-in for us.

The book states that it comes with stickers in the back, which unfortunately is a disadvantage of ARC readers. Anyway these stickers are meant to encourage readers to search out where these stickers are meant to be located and have them match up with that particular location found in the book. At the same time the book also encourages readers to be more interactive by implying various rock-related activities, participating in rock games and at the same time providing questions to make young readers think a bit more about these elements of nature. Furthermore readers are also encouraged to participate in a slew of arts and crafts types of activities that include clearly defined steps for those who may not know where to start

At the same time between all the crafts projects and interactive elements readers will be provided with more information exploring rocks in general whether it is their size, the three main categories, famous rock structures that can be seen by nature-explorers and how to test aspects of these various rocks/minerals using the Mohs Scale of Hardness. Other facts include providing readers with terminology and pronunciations for other words they may not know.

Meanwhile the book has for its illustrative means colored photographs, maps and other similar diagrams to help children whether it is providing them with a map of geographic terms, displaying various colors or even providing examples of the various rocks. Unfortunately most of the photos used were stock images and as such still have their stock mark blemishing the page.

Another aspect I didn't like is the text was put in all kinds of shapes and forms thus some sentences were normal but others curved around while making the reading a little bit harder unless you zoomed in. As such some readers may find that more than distracting when reading the book.

And finally my last complaint, which also helped to provide the book with such low stars, was that the book mentions that if readers come across obsidian it can come. And then on the next page it encourages readers to touch all the rocks they find when some precautions should be taken again thanks to rocks like obsidian or even toxic rocks that fortunately many people won't come across but there is a chance.

All in all it was rather a decent book and even with it being busy it would be a nice starter book for the children in your life who are avid rock collectors or as an addition to personal science library collections. Whether you use this book for learning, for inspired nature projects or both just remember to help remind young readers to be careful in their handling of rocks and minerals.

Absolutely loved this book! Was perfect to bring along with us on walks and look for natural treasures. My daughter loved reading along and learning more about rocks

After reading this book, I think I will pick up the whole set! I love how simple the book is, but still full of information and adventure! I love all of the activities and observations the book suggests for children and their grownups. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books from this series and share them with my mini naturalists!

An excellent deep dive into rocks for children, this book is engaging and colourful. It makes you want to keep turning the pages to learn new fun facts. Highly recommended for any classroom or any kid who is interested in rocks!

This is an excellent elementary school resource for rock hunting and learning about rocks. The text is filled with bold photographs, accessible challenges, and tidbits of information that are the perfect size for interesting young students to learn more. I especially love the inclusion of many different kinds of rocks that students may find near their homes wherever they live, making this book a tool that can be used by students in a wide variety of landscapes.

This picture book has colorful and engaging pictures, with lots of educational information about types of rocks and rock formations. While not fully descriptive enough to use as the only reference a rockhound would need, it has plenty of good beginner information portrayed in an appealing format.

I will recommend this book for my library, as we have lots of children who are interested in rock collections and are looking for more information when starting one.

There is a lot more information on the types of rocks and their formation, in brief. This is a children picture book to let them understand what to call to which type of rock in front of them.
There is also an art theory to let them know about the kind of rock they could use for different types of projects or in games.

Yes, there could me more the process of rock formation but still from the POV of children, this seems ok.

Backpack Explorer: Rock Hunt (Storey Publishing, February 2023) is an engaging activity book for “rock hounds” on the hunt for rocks all around them. From the beginning of this photographic and colorful book, kids see creative ways to make STEAM come alive as they find and examine rocks.

Rock Hunt provides stickers for marking pages as they spot the types of rocks described. Rocks are often differentiated by size (sand, pebbles, and boulders) and appearance (black rocks, striped rocks, sparkly rocks), and still others by where they are found (river rocks). In addition, illustrations diagram the rock cycle, types of rocks (sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous), and even various types of landforms. Another few pages discuss minerals and gemstones, along with a Mohs hardness scale.

Just writing out what is included shows what a comprehensive look at the rocks aspect of earth science Rock Hunt can provide for children. It would be perfect to grab before going hiking or exploring at a lake. The scavenger hunts will keep kids busy while you are on such a vacation.

As a home educator, I also must suggest that Rock Hunt would work well for your own rocks science unit. There so much in there, and it’s just right for early elementary ages. If you have older children, use the educational pages as a jumping off point for exploring the other aspects of rocks that appeal to you and your children. There is a lot to explore and rocks sure look more fun than you might expect.

I read a digital review copy of Rock Hunt.

This book is a great teaching resource when learning about rocks, sand, fossils and rock cycles. It’s detailed pictures make it easy for children (and grown ups) to identify the rocks and has a great use of vocabulary in bold. It also includes fun and creative activities and crafts that the children can do to extend on the learning. The book is colourful and set out easily for children to be able to follow and find what they are looking for.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. It is excellent for all the little ones who love to explore outside and enjoy checking out all the rocks they find.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for the ARC of this!

This looks like a super fun resource for kids learning about rocks and minerals. With stickers to take outside and checklists for the types of rocks you come across, I will be looking for this one physically for my kids who are already into rock tumbling to add some more depth to their study.

If you have a child in your life that collects rocks, pebbles or stones as treasure-- this is a perfect gift book for them! I would recommend buying a physical copy as the digital version isn't able to come with the magnifying glass!

My little one has pockets full of special" rocks all the time and this book was a delight for her! As a parent, this is a total connection win for those kiddos who LOVE rocks! Buy it right away to help you delight in their rock collecting hobby!

It would also be a great addition to a classroom or library! It is by far our favorite rock book!


The publisher made a copy of this book available for review. This is my honest opinion.

This book provides a kids' guide to rocks and things to do with them. Color photos enhance the simple text. I liked the ideas for art projects and other things to do with rocks. An index and bibliography/references or additional sources of information would improve this book greatly. If I were writing this book, I would place the information in a different order. This is a decent resource for parents and teachers to use when helping young kids to learn about rocks.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The ideas expressed here are entirely my own.

Backpack Explorer: Rock Hunt is a fun beginners guide to rock hunting and collecting. With beautiful photos and interactive information, it’s the perfect book for younger kids to begin or continue their budding love of rocks.

The photos and illustrations are engaging and provide information for novice scientists in an easily understandable format. The book finds the perfect balance between learning and doing, providing many readily available and affordable activities that range from collecting to art. My two older rock- collecting boys would have loved this in their earlier years.

This is a great activity book for any parent of preschool to 3rd grade children to pick up, even those not already interested in geology or science.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the ARC.

My favorite part about this awesome activity book is that there is SOMETHING for everyone- it doesn't exclude any kiddo that may learn differently or have any type of disability that would affect their enjoyment of the activities. Can't see the colors for one prompt? That's ok!= use your sense of touch!

It also encourages kids to be creative and unique while educating them on SO many different types of rocks. I even learned quite a bit through the various prompts, definitions, maps and pictures. Rounding out some of the lessons by linking them to real world applications is a brilliant way for kids to retain what they're learning- when they can see how it works in relation to their own life and experiences it makes it tangible and fun.

Also- encouragement of a pet rock was SUPERB and my second favorite thing about this book, again emphasizing creativity and curiosity.

Love, love love this book!

A super cute book for young children interested in learning more about rocks. Would be an amazing book to have to teach the Rocks and Minerals unit at school (Ontario curriculum.) Of course, I also think it is an amazing book to have at home as there are lots of great activities to do on a weekend outdoors.