What's Under There?
A curious child and their geologist grandparent hop into a homemade drilling machine and journey to the center of the Earth, through fossils, crystals, rivers, and molten rock.
"My kid now explains plate tectonics to strangers. Highly recommend."
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The Story
Grandpa has a secret in his garage: a big, rusty, rumbling digging machine called The Mole. "One day," he always says, "we'll see what's under there." Then the ground shakes, the yard cracks open, and one day turns into today. Your child and Grandpa climb in, the drill spins, and down they go. Then something breaks, and the drill will not stop going down.
They fall through every layer of the planet, in the right order. Past dinosaur bones locked in the rock for millions of years, into a cave of crystals as tall as buildings, along an underground river, between the giant plates of rock where earthquakes begin, and on through glowing melted rock and an ocean of liquid metal to the solid iron ball at the very center of the Earth. Then Grandpa pulls every lever at once and The Mole shoots back up to the yard. Your child presses an ear to the grass and hears the Earth humming.
A Trip to the Center of the Earth, Layer by Layer
Loud enough for a four-year-old, with real Earth science an older child can take further.
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Fossils
Giant dinosaur bones trapped in the rock for millions of years.
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The crystal cave
Crystals as tall as buildings in a hidden cave underground.
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The underground river
Water that hasn't seen the Sun in a thousand years.
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Tectonic plates
Huge pieces of rock pushing and squeezing, which is where earthquakes come from.
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The mantle and outer core
Glowing hot rock, then an ocean of liquid metal that makes Earth's protective magnetic shield.
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The inner core
A solid ball of iron at the very center, about as hot as the surface of the Sun.
Questions About What's Under There?
Is the science in What's Under There? accurate?
The layers come in the right order and each one has a real fact: fossils in the rock, plates that cause earthquakes, a liquid metal outer core that creates Earth's magnetic field, and a solid iron inner core about as hot as the Sun's surface. One thing is simplified for the story: the mantle is drawn as a sea of lava, while the real mantle is mostly solid rock that flows very slowly.
Can the grown-up be Dad instead of Grandpa?
Yes. Upload Dad's photo for the grown-up and type the name your child calls him, such as Daddy. That name replaces Grandpa everywhere in the story, and he is illustrated from his own photo at the controls of The Mole.
What age is What's Under There? for?
Ages 4 to 10. It is the loudest of our science stories, with big sound effects, a machine that breaks and a launch back to the surface. It takes about four minutes to read aloud.
How is What's Under There? personalized?
You upload a photo of each character and type in their name. The story is already written, so your child's name goes into the text and every illustration is drawn from your photos, keeping them recognizable from the first page to the last. Before anything is printed you get the full editor: change any word, regenerate any illustration you are not happy with, and write your own dedication.
How much does it cost, and how long does delivery take?
$34.99 for the 26-page premium hardcover, plus shipping at checkout: $8.24 to the United States or $6.65 to Australia. Each book is printed to order once you approve it and arrives in 7 to 11 business days.
Make What's Under There? Their Story
Upload a photo, preview every page, and change anything you like before it prints.
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