Pros: Packed with useful information and breathtaking photos, hard cover.
Cons: None!
The Bottom Line: Part of the Eye Wonder series, this book would be perfect for kids aged 5 – 8 who love space, the solar system and shuttle explorations.
Freak369's Full Review: Carole Stott and Simon Holland - Space
It’s no secret that my boys love anything to do with space, science and math. When I came across Space by Simon Holland I knew that this would be a book that they would all enjoy. It’s filled with exceptional photos, jam packed with facts and covers all the planets in detail. I was sold on the book when I saw it was part of a series of book from DK Publishing with other titles that also interested my boys. The book has held up very well over the past year and a half even though it has been heavily used by all of them. If you have a space nut or budding astronaut in your house, this is a great book to check out.
There are a total of 21 sections to the book with each of them taking up one to two pages. I really liked the fact that the information is presented back to back so a child wouldn’t have to flip from page to page to complete a section. This makes learning a bit easier when everything about a planet or part of the solar system is right there in front of them – even more so for the younger kids. The contents page, index and glossary that are provided are simple, easy to use and help children do their own research if they come across a word or phrase that they aren’t familiar with. When the boys read this the first few times they had tons of questions about space, the sizes of the planets and how far they were from Earth. This led to them seeking out more information from other books as well as on the internet.
Space
Don’t let the thin size of the book fool you, it is filled from cover to cover with information about all the planets, space exploration, manned and unmanned space launches and the future of man in space. Each part of the book is broken down to one or two page sections so younger kids won’t have to flip from page to page or become distracted. The book starts off with the basics of space, what it is and why it is dark on space. It also talks about how large Earth is compared to other planets and what makes it different from others including oxygen, gravity and human life. From there we start to learn about Apollo 11 and how the astronauts first landed on the moon. I was really surprised to see the amount of detail that was included in this section of the book and learned that the small craft that was used to transport the astronauts to the moon was called “The Eagle” and was left behind when they took off and headed back to earth.
All of the planets are discussed with photos, sizes and solar placement being just a few of the topics that are touched upon. Most of the information is geared towards how the planet is situated in relation to the Earth, how long their lunar cycles is, how dense the planet is and what the surfaces are like. In my opinion the coverage of Neptune is the best and I’ll admit it – I never knew it was the windiest planet until I read this book. OK, I was also amazed the Uranus has 21 icy moons that revolve around it. While I’m at it I might also add that Jupiter is so big that all the other planets in our solar system could fit inside it. Call me crazy but that simply amazes me. When I said that the book was filled with information, I wasn’t kidding.
The Milky Way kicks off the section about galaxies, a part of the book that really interested the boys. Do you know what a pancake galaxy is? Well, after you read this book you will. In fact, you’ll learn about all the different types of galaxies that exist like spiral, elliptical and irregular galaxies. The “Life In Space” portion gives you just enough information to get curious about the prospect of living in space and in the case of my boys it spawned a lot of questions about the possibilities. This led to them going online and looking up different words in search engines and finding several youth related message boards.
Space Glossary
Right before you hit the last few pages of the book where you will find the index, there is a nice two page glossary. This helps a younger child learn some of the larger words that are contained in the book as well as helping to define the difference between planets and stars, what the word ‘martian’ really means, the different layers of a planet and how gravity works. There are also a handful of websites listed at the end of the glossary that can be used for additional learning. A few of the websites are no longer active but the pages can still be accessed and browsed.
Things To Know
There are a lot of facts tossed into various sections of the book. Be sure to look for the small red boxes that are labeled “Data Zone or areas that feature a small illustrated alien for quick facts about the section your are covering. If you are planning on reading this to a younger child, save these areas for last – they help to sum up everything that is covered on the page.
If you have a child that is rough on books, this one will hold up to a lot of use and abuse. The hard cover protects the pages and our copy still looks pretty good even after all the times its been pulled off the shelf and dragged across the house. All the pages are glossy stock and will hold up to tons of page flipping, since it the pages are glossy they also retard fingerprints. The font used is large and easy to read however there are a few small paragraphs that are printed on the photos that sort of blend in with the background color.
Space is part of the Eye Wonder series of book from DK Publishing. Other books include Rain Forest, Ocean, Dinosaur and Body. The series started out small and has grown over the past few years to include Big Cats, Bugs and Reptiles. We have several books in the series and I can say with all honesty that they are extremely educational and should be considered a great asset to any childs library. They are all hard cover, durable and filled with color photos and illustrations and priced around $9.95 each.
The Bottom Line
I mentioned it a few times in the body of the review but I will say it again, the fist time I sat down and read this there were several interesting facts that I picked up. Granted, none of them changed my life or caused me to have a mental epiphany but I felt a little smarted when I finished reading it. This might be a kid’s book but I’d venture to say that most adults would find it interesting and – like me – learn a few things along the way. This book would make a good introduction to the Eye Wonder series, a good supplement for those that homeschool or those that might be looking for extra reading material for kids in the 5 – 8 year range. This book gets two thumbs up from me and I highly recommend this to anyone that has a child that has shown an interest in space travel, learning about the planets or good old Mother Earth.
Stats
Name Space
Published By: DK – Dorling Kindersley
Author: Simon Holland
Pages: 48
ISBN: 0-7894-7854-4
UPC 9 780789 478542
Price: $ 9.95
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