While all of these posts are to focus on non-fiction titles for youth, I have decided I am going to focus on new and upcoming titles. I started reading NetGalley ARCs after the pandemic in effort to try to get my reading grove that I had lost in the height of things back. So some will be from there and others will be new non-fiction books I find from my local public library. So most for now will have a 2021 publishing year, with perhaps a few 2020 or 2022. Astronomy Activity Book for Kids by Aurora Lipper and illustrated by Victoria Stebleva will be published by Penguin Random House on September 14, 2021. The publisher recommends the book for ages 5 to 7. In the “Reach for the Stars!” introduction one line that stands out to me is, “In this book, you’ll get to be an astronomer, too.” I think there is great value in getting children to see themselves as scientists (or mathematicians, writers, historians, artists, readers, and so forth). It builds confidence and opens future doors of possibilities in their minds. The intro goes on to explain that the reader will explore solar system objects, learn about constellations, and discover star clusters and nebulae while completing activities along the way. This is followed by a page that says “I’m an astronomer!” with spots for the reader to fill in the blanks. After explaining the first concept of sun and moon, there are several different activities for readers to interact with using a pen or pencil that teaches about some subtopics such as moon phases, oval orbits, or the sun’s core. That pattern continues through sections on the inner solar system, outer solar system, star constellations, galaxies, star clusters, nebulae, and comets, shooting stars, and more. The brief overview followed by subtopics with details and activities is a format that will make sense and appeal to a lot of young astronomers. A lot of the activities that require writing in the book go along with the topic very well such as tracing the moon phases, charting a month of moons, measuring a planet with pennies, or drawing clouds on Venus. I think those activities will be more likely to reinforce what readers are learning and preferred those activities over some of the other activities in the book that correlated more loosely with a word search or word tracing for example. The illustrations are bright and vibrant with a shared color palette that is pleasing to look at. Towards the end there’s a section on “Stargazing Activities” that encourages readers to observe the night sky. These activities include a list of what is needed and how to find the stars being sought. The book closes with answer keys. It says that there are how to videos found at AstronomyByAurora.com from the author, Aurora Lipper, but at this moment when I go to that site, I get redirected to the Amazon page for that book, but I was able to do a Google search and locate the About page of that site here. The YouTube channel linked from there is for Central Coast Astronomical Society, and it looks like she is in several of the videos there including telescope tutorials and stargazing videos.
Some other resources that might be helpful to those wanting to try out stargazing would be Skywatching Tips from NASA, Night Sky Network affiliated with NASA, and those from Sky and Telescope like their Stargazing Basics page or interactive star chart. I think this book could be a valuable resource in a child’s home to learn about astronomy and try some family stargazing. Children who like doing things outside, learning about science, and/or interactive books will find things to enjoy about this book. I do not see this book being a purchase for libraries with the amount of interactive pages meant to be drawn or written on unless a librarian wanted to encourage families to try stargazing and could use the Stargazing Activities pages as a resource.
2 Comments
Whitley Abell
9/21/2021 10:28:20 am
I'm so glad you shared this book! I'm doing a virtual Space Camp for kids next month, and this sounds like it will be a perfect source for activities!
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Abi Avery
10/16/2021 09:59:09 am
JoyAnn, I agree with your assessment that this book might not be the best fit for a library! As soon as I saw that there were "worksheets" that would require writing in the book, I physically cringed. We have books that don't ask kids to write in the book, and they get written in. We also have several workbooks for adults, with various labels on them saying "don't write in this! Make photocopies!" and we frequently get them back with writing in them, or eraser marks from someone suddenly remembering they're not supposed to write in the book. I can only imagine how a workbook for kids would end up!
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