Life: The First Four Billion Years: The Story of Life from the Big Bang to the Evolution of Humans

This book is about evolution from the beginning of life on earth (as far as we can see), leading up almost to…us. This is evolution before humans. It starts with meteorites bringing water to our planet, and the solar system is formed, then it goes into the whole timeline of evolution, touching on single-celled organisms, different ice ages, life diversifying, trilobites and shells, the first predators, and then more familiar types of life, like fish, jaws, and the first life on land. Evolution proceeds to reptiles, insects, and dinosaurs, and mammals and birds. The book talks about mass extinction events and how that changed evolution as well. It is all pretty easy to understand but it’s not simplistic; it is written for probably middle grades and above. You will learn a lot of great facts and a good overview of the path of life’s evolution, but because the book is short, you won’t get stuck in the details. This book has wonderful illustrations; they are truly stunning and very explanatory for the text; many illustrations are finely detailed pencil drawings and others are elaborate watercolors that recreate the various prehistoric creatures and periods. This is a beautiful book for sparking interest and conversation.