At first, nothing lived on Earth. It was a noisy, hot, scary place. Choking gas exploded from volcanoes and oceans of lava bubbled around the globe...

Then in the deep, dark ocean, something amazing happened.

This is an exciting and dramatic story about how life began and developed on Planet Earth, written especially for younger children.

The authors explain how the first living cell was created, and how the cells multiply and create jellyfish and worms, and then fish with bendy necks, which drag themselves out of the water into swampy forests. They tell the story of the biggest creatures that have ever walked on land - the dinosaurs. Long after that, hairy creatures who have babies, not eggs, take over, stand on two legs and spread around the world, some of them living through cataclysmic events such as ice ages and volcanic eruptions. Everyone living today is related to these survivors.
With delightful illustrations including lots of detail and humour, all carefully researched and checked, this book shows the development of life on Earth in a truly accessible and simple way.

CLICK HERE to download Teachers' Notes specially written by the authors, Catherine Barr and Steve Williams, to assist teachers and librarians in the promotion and teaching of The Story of Lifein schools and to help foster a love of good books, literature and reading in children.

This book is part of a book series called Stories Of .

There are 40 pages in this book. This book was published 2018 by Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd .

Catherine Barr specializes in clear explanations of `big issues for small people'. She has worked with Greenpeace and London's Natural History Museum before becoming a full-time researcher-writer. She describes herself as "interested in writing non-fiction stories that spark questions and conversation". Her bestselling book, The Story of Life , explaining the principle of evolution, was shortlisted for the English Association Picture Book Award in 2016. Catherine Barr lives near Hay-on-Wye. STEVE WILLIAMS is a biologist with a degree in Marine Biology and Applied Zoology from the University of Wales. His lifelong love of wildlife was further inspired by eight years at sea, after which he trained as a teacher, and now teaches science in a rural comprehensive school in Wales. He is a beekeeper and lives near Hay-on-Wye with his wife and two daughters. Amy Husband studied Graphic Art at Liverpool School of Art. Her first picture book, Dear Miss , was winner of the Cambridgeshire Children's Picture Book Award in 2010, and she also wrote and illustrated Dear Santa , in the same series. Amy lives in York with her partner, working in a studio with views of York Minster.