This week’s word is “Astronomy.”
Books are back this week, with DK’s Night Sky. Night Sky is a book for young astronomers, a small hardback primer aimed at children aged 6-10.
The book forgoes DK’s usual practice of brilliant vibrant photos but instead uses more muted tones and inked diagrams. The trademark succinct paragraphs of informative text are still present. This is not a book that will wow readers like some DK books but it will engage, inform, and hopefully bring them back, looking for more things to investigate.
Night Sky very much reminded me of the book that first kindled my interest in astronomy (a more up to date copy of which is still available, here) and it certainly has the power to enthuse the next generation of stargazers.
One thing that sets this book apart from others is the series of practical experiments that you can carry out at home. The instructions on making a red torch to take outside when stargazing set off a huge wave of nostalgia in me. There are also experiments to make your own Orion, cause your own impact craters, and build your own moon using a football and old newspaper (the book offers countless opportunities to make a mess!)
What’s in DK’s Night Sky?
In the book, you’ll find pages devoted to
- How to look at the Night Sky.
- What’s in the Night Sky?
- What is a star? and the life of a star.
- How stars appear from Earth, including basic star maps for the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
- Galaxies, including the Milky Way.
- The Solar System with pages devoted to the Sun, each of the planets, the Moon, and Pluto, planetary moons, and asteroids.
- Comets and meteors.
- How stars are observed and Space explored.
All this is encapsulated in 60 informative pages.
There are several DK books in this series, each with the tagline, “Explore nature with fun facts and activities.” This is the first I’ve seen, and I have to say I’m impressed. It provides a great introduction to the subject for inquisitive minds. It’s an excellent book for both home and classroom. Other books in the series include Seashore, Weather, and Woodland and Forest. More titles are promised in the future, including Butterflies and Moths. This is a great little series that I’m sure will run and run.
If you liked this post, check out my other Word Wednesday posts, here.
If you’d like to buy Night Sky, you can do so here, in the US and here, in the UK.
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book in order to write this review.
