Customer Reviews

My Place in Space

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is an excellent tool to use in teaching geography to children. It gives them a visual picture of where we are in the universe as well as helps them to see the size differences between countries, continents, etc. I use it every year with my third graders, and they love it!

I absolutely love this book. I am a teacher of both English as a Second Language and the gifted, and I have used it with both populations. The space pictures are beautiful, the other pictures are hilarious, and the information is both simply given and interesting. I would take exception to the rating of baby-preschool, both because I know high school students who enjoy it and because there is violence (albeit comical) in some of the pictures. For example, if you look at the playing field, you will see what appears to be a person getting decapitated with a tennis racket.

As an astronomer and educator, I love to let people know how amazing the universe is. My Place in Space is a fun way to introduce children to the wonders of astronomy and awaken their curiosity. It's especially nice because of the two confident children, Henry and Rosie, who show us that children too can be wise. With vibrant illustrations and accurate text even adults will enjoy it and be left wanting to know more. I have given a copy to everyone I know who has children!

It's a lovely book, but -- based solely on the reaction of my just-turned-four book lover who wants to be an astronaut/basketball player -- I'd say it will go over better with the older kids. There's a lot of interesting, subtle, and funny stuff going on in the illustrations -- but it's like observing an ant farm in terms of the scale. The town-continent-solar system-galaxy progression is really nifty, but a lot of the time, distance, and really big numbers are just too abstract. Having the setting in Australia is a really nice feature, since Earth's continents seems to be a topic of interest and comprehensible. I'm glad I have the book, but it will probably be resting on the shelf for a while for my guy.

This used book was listed as "like new" but it really wasn't in very good shape. The pages were torn then taped and several pages were folded in several places.

As a parent of three kids now 12-20, I can remember reading this book to them for years, and them going back to it. I've recommended it to my astronomer friends. It's just a plain wonderful book, one of the most memorable of the very many I read to my kids over the years.