When a young girl finds a sparkly rock buried in the dirt and discovers that it cleans to a beautiful quartz crystal, she is fascinated and becomes Julie the Rockhound. Join Julie as her dad shows her how to dig for minerals and explains the wonders of crystal formation. Combining clever wordplay with earth science, young readers learn about Earth’s most abundant mineral ‘treasure.”

Written By: Gail Langer Karwoski Illustrated By: Lisa Downey	32 pg 8.5" X 10", Age 4-8 Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-9764943-7-9, $15.95 Paperback: ISBN: 978-1-934359-21-1, $8.95 Lexile Level: 540, AR: 3.0, RC: 2.8
“Warm watercolor illustrations capture the excitement of a sparkling mineral discovery, the details of the quartz crystal shape, and the relationship between Julie and her father.” – Rock and Gem Magazine
“This book would make an excellent addition to earth science lessons and it will keep curious, young rockhounders busy. – Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)
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Author / Illustrator Bio:

Gail Langer Karwoski is an award-winning children’s book writer. In addition to picture books Julie the Rockhound and Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean (Mom’s Choice Best Children’s Picture Book Author for 2005 and the 2007 Teacher’s Choice Children’s Book Award) published by Sylvan Dell, Gail has written six other books for young readers including: Tsunami: The True Story of an April Fool’s Day Disaster and Quake! Disaster in San Francisco, 1906. Gail married a rockhound. On their honeymoon, they hiked through lush western forests and stark “forests” of petrified wood. They dove into foamy aquamarine waves in the Pacific Ocean and dug into crumbly turquoise deposits in the Southwestern desert. Since then, they’ve gone “treasure hunting” for geodes, fossils, and crystals. Before becoming a full time author, Gail taught in Georgia public schools and her classroom was famous because of the “rock box.” She wrote Julie the Rockhound to share this delight in our earth’s treasures with children and their parents. Gail and her husband live near the University of Georgia and have two bossy cats and two grown daughters.

Lisa Downey is a freelance artist and graphic designer. A former art teacher, Lisa also attended FIT in New York, where she studied advertising and packaging design and later taught introductory packaging design classes. “Illustration has always been just under the surface in my career as a designer. I gained valuable skills working in packaging design firms; but the six year old inside was just itching to jump out and run all over the drawing board,” says Lisa, who has always been interested in illustrating children’s books. Lisa's style ranges from cartoonish to very representational. Her favorite medium is pastels. In addition to illustrating Julie the Rockhound, Lisa illustrated Happy Birthday to Whooo? for Sylvan Dell. She lives in the SC Lowcountry, with her very supportive husband, Len, and their cats; Pom Pom and Ophelia.
http://www.studiodowney.com/