From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6–In a picture-book format, DeCristofano tells the story of the origin of the universe. She describes the original singularity from which the Big Bang erupted and follows with the rapid expansion of the universe, the formation of atoms, stars, galaxies, and so on. She discusses the discovery of the Big Bang through the expansion of the universe, presenting a clear analogy with an expanding balloon, and follows up with information on residual radiation and the variety of telescopes used to study the universe. The conclusion asks about the fate of the universe and presents a time line showing the brief duration of human history relative to the universe. Carroll's spectacular illustrations, with a few photos of celestial objects interspersed, provide a dramatic background for the text and help clarify the concepts. DeCristofano does well at explaining complex ideas in a simple way, making scientific jargon understandable. The subtitle is a clue to the clever writing, although the style is sometimes overly cute, for example, "smaller than a freckle on a flea–if fleas could get freckles." Stylistically comparable to Seymour Simon's The Universe (Morrow, 1998), this book presents a rudimentary version of Mark Garlick's The Expanding Universe (DK, 2002).–Jeffrey A. French, Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, Willowick, OH
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
