The Earth and Sky (First Discovery Books) [Hardcover]

Jean-Pierre Verdet (Author), Sylvie Perols (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Series: First Discovery Books

Colorful drawings encourage young readers to turn a brightly colored transparent page to reveal the Earth revolving around the Sun, in a sturdy board book.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-- A lot of different concepts are presented in this brief, simply worded text. Topics introduced include the distribution of land and water on the Earth's surface, its layered structure, volcanic activity, its movement around the sun, the phases of the moon, and the planets of the solar system. Seven mylar transparencies serve as overlays that reveal a different aspect of the scene being depicted. A special feature is the covered spiral binding, which allows each transparency to lie flat and align perfectly with the pages on both the left and right sides. The graphics are attractive, and the format has definite child appeal, but the science may raise more questions than it answers in its 24 pages. That's fine if it stimulates curiosity and leads children to more thorough treatments of The Earth and Sky.
-Carolyn Angus, The Claremont Graduate School, CA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; Spi edition (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590452681
• ISBN-13: 978-0590452687
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #653,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars They should check their science!, October 18, 2007

By 

A Voice crying but not in wilderness - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Earth and Sky (First Discovery Books) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book used a number of years ago and was very disappointed to see that they had incorrect information regarding the phases of the moon. I called the publisher to mention it to them and I received a polite, "Thanks for letting us know." I don't think they took me seriously. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this book! If you want your children to learn factual information this is not the book for you. The incorrect information is this: "As the moon moves around the earth, our planet blocks the sunlight from a part of the moon's surface. That makes the moon appear to change its shape." What they describe is actually what occurs during a lunar eclipse -- this is NOT what causes the phases of the moon. I am disappointed to see that this same mistake is still in new copies of this book as pointed out by another reviewer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Factually Incorrect, December 28, 2006

By 

Watanabe Timu "San" (Kofu-shi, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Earth and Sky (First Discovery Books) (Hardcover)

Though it is a nice book, and maybe YOU don't care whether they get the details right, the book is factually incorrect on one topic: it states that the phases of the moon are caused by the earth's shadow falling on the moon. I couldn't believe such a huge mistake would make it through the editorial process, through the printers, and all the way to bookstores, so I looked it up to double-check myself. If you don't believe me look at the wikipedia article on "phases of the moon".
While I don't expect my 5.5-year-old to understand all of the intricacies of planetary orbits, this is a basic fact that is WRONG. I tried to find the publisher online but so far have not (i.e. could not find "Cartwheel Books" and could not find Cartwheel's own section on Scholastic's site).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tolerable introduction, February 7, 2006

By 

Lydia Joyce - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Earth and Sky (First Discovery Books) (Hardcover)

This series is an imitation of the Eyewitness format for younger readers. It is most appropriate for ages 2-5.

This book discusses the Earth as a planet, the layers of the earth, caves and volcanoes, day and nightconstellations, and the solar system. Its strength is its breadth. Its weakness is its shallowness and its overgeneralizations and one factually incorrect section--this sort of problem plagues this series, I fear.