Why do Volcanoes Blow their Tops?

When I showed this book to my son he was very excited and proceeded to skim through the pages. Not even half way through Why Do Volcanoes Blow Their Tops? Questions and Answers About Volcanoes and Earthquakes, he found a page that portrayed a volcano model to do in your own home. In four easy steps the picture guides you along with the text on watching your own volcano blow its top.

This was truly the highlight of the book for my two children and they insist on repeating this experiment. But on to the forty-eight pages of the book that includes an index at the back listing where you can find craters, epicenter, foreshocks, landslides, lava, nuclear bomb, seaquakes and volcanic ash. The illustrations portray craters, ash and eruptions in various stages and color.

The authors also welcome letters from any readers that have experienced either a Volcano or Earthquake as they prefer research to experience on these matters. There are answers to seventy-eight questions on both these topics. A Volcano will erupt due to pressure. Lava comes out as a red-hot liquid before it cools and becomes solid. A cinder Volcano is when rock and ash shoot into the air and fall back around the opening. Composite Volcanoes are also known as Strato Volcanoes, which would be the Mount Fuji in Japan.

At the top of Volcanoes are craters that can be measure from a few feet to one mile. Australia is the only continent where a Volcano does not exist. They are near the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea. Rift Volcanoes erupt under the sea and happen more frequently than Volcanoes on land. Venus and Mars also have Volcanoes.

I felt that Why Do Volcanoes Blow Their Tops? Questions and Answers About Volcanoes and Earthquakes was quite fascinating and worth investing in for the facts and details on these two events that can happen at any given time.

The recommended age is from kindergarten to second grade and older as well as adults. I learned much about Volcanoes that I never knew about or thought I would care to know but found it informative as well as always wanting to know about Earthquakes. This happens when you live in what we call "earthquake country".