Customer Reviews

Constellations Dot-to-Dot

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A lovely and captivating way to introduce astronomy! Constellations Dot-to-Dot covers the 33 major constellations seen thoughout the year in the Northern Hemisphere as well as 5 constellations from the Southern Pole stars. Each constellation is accompanied by a synopsis of the constellation's legend (a great way to introduce Greek mythology and ancient Chinese legends!). A brief section called "Did You Know?" introduces more information about the constellation in particular or space in general. The last two pages of the book has star drawings where a child may design her own constellations.

The dots are connected by numbers which often go well over 100. So your children will have practice with numbers, but might need help if they aren't comfortable counting quite that high just yet. I like the "dot-to-dot" format because it helps a child get an idea of how the Ancients formed the concepts for the constellations.

This book would be awesome included in a gift package along with some of these books and tapes:
-_The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus_, Aliki
-"Galileo and the Stargazers", Jim Weiss (audio tape)
-_Greek Gods and Goddesses_, Geraldine McCaughrean
-_DK Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology_, Philip Wilkinson
-_Sunshine Makes the Seasons_, Franklyn Branley
-_D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths_ (the CD format is wonderful)!
-_The Librarian Who Measured the Earth_, Kathryn Lasky
-_Archimedes and the Door of Science_, Jeanne Bendick

_Constellations Dot-to-Dot_ is a creative and highly informative book! I highly recommend it! And at just $..., every child should own a copy!!

Total of 37 dot-to-dot puzzles, most numbered up to about 120, with the highest goes to 163. Puzzles are large sized, 8.5"x11" and the facing page has the name of the constellation, the legend in a one paragraph summary, the number of stars, star facts. Some of the pages have "did you know" facts added to them. The paper is much nicer than most consumable workbooks, and is heavier than 20# copy paper. Books by this author are much higher quality than the typical drug store dot-to-dot workbooks.

The youngest age for this book would be whatever age your child is willing or able to learn to count up to about 165. Using dot-to-dot books to reinforce counting skills to higher numbers is a great way to "sneak in" math. Ignore the publisher's age range of 9-12 if your child is younger and can count to 165. My 6 year-old son is going through a phase of loving dot-to-dot puzzles that go to a high number and he will sit and do an entire book (if allowed) and will beg for more! Some of the connections are of a short length and therefore are helpful when developing fine motor skills, for the younger children. Of course this makes a great addition to any unit study of space, the constellations, or Ancient Greece, as it contains a good amount of educational content that is well written.

I highly recommend all of the dot-to-dot books by Evan and Lael Kimble and also those by Monica Russo.