Earth, The (Starting with Space) - Hardcover

Bill Slavin is an award-winning children's book illustrator with over 50 books to his credit. His works include Stanley?s Party and The Bear on the Bed. He lives in Millbrook, Ontario.

Grade 3-4?A broad scope makes these introductions useful and appealing; each includes not only basic scientific observations, but also briefly told myths and legends and instructions for easy, homespun demonstrations?all illustrated with a combination of color photos and lively cartoons. To capsule accounts of The Moon's physical history and features, Bourgeois adds explanations of phases and tides, a summary of lunar landings, and legends from around the world. After a look at the past and future of The Sun, she discusses its visible and invisible emissions, seasons, the ozone layer, and the northern lights?the last accompanied by a particularly spectacular photo taken from space. Including instructions for a vinegar-and-baking-soda volcano, Nicolson describes the effects both of humans and of plate tectonics on The Earth, as well as our planet's origins. The interspersed activities include appropriate cautionary notes (especially in The Sun), and generally require no supplies beyond balls, string, and mirrors. One of the most intriguing needs no supplies at all; readers are invited to pick a night when the full moon looks huge, then to note the change in apparent size when viewed from between the legs. The spacious page layout, question-and-answer structure, and informal tone make these titles less intimidating to unpracticed readers than books like E. C. Krupp's The Moon and You (Macmillan, 1993) or the "Eyewitness Science" series (DK). Despite some overlap, they make inviting gateways to the study of matters astronomical.?John Peters, New York Public Library
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