Discovery in the Cave (Step into Reading)
Mark Dubowski
Language: English
Pages: 48
ISBN: 0375858938
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This amazing true adventure story about the discovery of the Lascaux Cave will have young readers feeling that they've discovered something pretty special, too!
In 1940, four teenage boys and a dog dropped themselves into a hole in the forest floor. Using a flaming grease gun as a torch, they ventured deep underground, eventually coming to a huge cave, the walls of which were covered with life-size paintings of animals. Whole herds of horses! Deer with horns as big as tree branches! Giant bison! The boys were amazed by their discovery. They'd stumbled upon the world's finest examples of prehistoric painting!
Perfect for classroom use, this Step 4 Step into Reading book is realistically illustrated by award-winning artist Bryn Barnard.
But they are also excited. A secret like this is hard to keep. They think of one person they can trust. Someone who knows a lot about old caves. Monsieur Léon Laval. Monsieur Laval is their former science teacher. The boys talk to him. They take him to the cave. Monsieur Laval has seen cave paintings before. But not like these. “Look at the way the animals are drawn,” he tells the boys. The faces are turned slightly, to make the paintings look less flat and more real. Some of the animals
But they are also excited. A secret like this is hard to keep. They think of one person they can trust. Someone who knows a lot about old caves. Monsieur Léon Laval. Monsieur Laval is their former science teacher. The boys talk to him. They take him to the cave. Monsieur Laval has seen cave paintings before. But not like these. “Look at the way the animals are drawn,” he tells the boys. The faces are turned slightly, to make the paintings look less flat and more real. Some of the animals
real, like a unicorn. Or maybe it is not an animal at all. The thick legs could belong to a hunter. He could be playing a trick, hiding under an animal’s skin. The big room that the boys first discovered is only the beginning. The cave at Lascaux turns out to have five rooms of paintings. Through a keyhole-shaped tunnel at the other end is another room. Here the paintings cover the walls and the ceiling. In the next tunnel, the paintings are faded, probably from water seeping into
Prehistoric—France—Montignac (Dordogne)—Juvenile literature. 4. Montignac (Dordogne, France)—Antiquities—Juvenile literature. [1. Lascaux Cave (France)—Juvenile literature.] I. Barnard, Bryn. II. Title. GN772.3.M3D83 2010 944’.72—dc22 2009007099 Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. v3.1 For Megan—M.D. For Rebecca, Wynn, and Parks—B.B. Title Page Copyright Dedication First Page CHAPTER 1 Earthquake A bison climbs
animals. Horses. Stags with horns as big as tree branches. Huge animals that look like oxen. Some are standing. Others look as if they are running through the cave, charging along the edge of a high cliff. Outside, a warplane crosses the sky. It is a German Messerschmitt. France is at war. Enemy soldiers have moved into many French cities. When the boys come out of the cave, they are worried. For now, the cave is theirs. They found it. What will happen if other people find out about it?