Martian Rock by Carol Diggory Shields

Martian Rock was poetic, creative, clever, unique and all around magnificent. Martian Rock is action packed from cover to cover. This picture book is about a group of aliens that travel the solar system looking for other forms of life. Instead of using the planets actual names, Shields uses creative names for each planet while incorporating actual facts about the solar system. Also, on the back page of Martian Rock, the author provides the “Martian name” for the planet and the “Earth name”. Thus, this actively engages the reader by giving reader the opportunity to participate in discovering facts about each planet. As the group of aliens traveled to each planet they discovered new surroundings, smells and sites. When the aliens were just about to give up they decided to visit Earth. While at Earth the aliens do not find human beings but cuddly, cute penguins. In addition to a great storyline and descriptive wording, Martian Rock also contains great illustrations. These illustrations painted creative depictions of the solar system and aliens. The aliens drove a spaceship that looked like a car symbolizing that these aliens were almost human. These illustrations were created using a cartoon technique. The cartoon technique combined with a solar system theme makes me ponder about the infinite amount of creativity and potential each child contains.