Customer Reviews

The Sun (Starting with Space)

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

 

 

My teacher has many Seymour Simon books in the classroom and all of them are great. I am a fifth grader, and a good reader of fiction but nonfiction has always been a struggle for me. But this book, and others by the same author, have kept me interested. I've learned a lot and I wish we could use these books instead of textbooks.

My 5 year old absolutely loves all of the books he has by Mr. Simon.

The pictures are outstanding and the wording is such, even he can understand, and grasp the concept Mr. Simon is trying to get across, as we read it to him. He is even now, picking up these books, and reading them himself, as best he can.

Any author that can capture and keep your child's attention and spur them on to learn more and inspire their desire to read, deserves nothing but the highest score. I regret I can only go as high as five, on rating this item and author.

Part of a series which includes The Moon, The Sun (this book), Stars, Planets, this is a nice science book with good photos and watercolor illustrations. Each chapter has ancient beliefs and legends, as well as an experiment or activity in connection with the sun such as, Make your own Sundial, Look at the sun safely, Cast a Big Shadow. It discusses eclipses, stars, rainbows, sunsets. There is an experiment with milk, Make your own sunset. It also covers the ozone layer and the two different types of auroras. One other experiment is Find the Warmest Color. It has a helpful Glossary and and Index. It is good for the fourth to the eighth grade. I saw it in an eighth grade classroom. Even high school students will find it of value. It is clearly presented and easy to digest.

The value of this book is in understanding the facts surrounding the sun, but also in the simple but profound experiments outlined clearly in this book. It is a good reference also for the middle school and grade school science teacher. The only issue that anyone might have with this book has to do with science and religion. The book states the all stars die out and the sun will die out in 6 billion years. From a purely scientific viewpoint this is fine. However, from the most simple religious viewpoint, the astronauts who first saw the earth from space quoted Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." They were moved with awe at what they saw. If God had enough energy to make the sun, unless he has taken a new hands-off approach to the universe, he could certainly fill up the tank once in a while. In that case the sun would continue indefinitely. No reason to scare kids into details about the ultimate oblivion of the sun and earth!!

Once again Seymour has created a wonderful book for children. I think that as long as you are aware this book is one aiming to bring a child into the world of science, and understand that there will be challenges the first read through, your child should be fine.

The flimsy paperback series is a great strength - and it obviously keeps cost down so we can build a section on our child's bookshelf for a reasonable price. Perhaps a flimsy paperback is not the correct phrase, rather a well crafted paperback book it is.

Let you child encounter concepts such as: asteroids, the solar system, hydrogen, photosphere, chromospheres, coronagraphs, sun spots, and much more . . . Don't expect the child, especially younger ones, to grasp all of this all at once but use this attractive book to introduce them to such vocabulary/concepts. As they grow older, as my daughter has, she goes back to these books from time to time and at the age of 8 can now read these through with a better understanding due to repeated exposure to the books. Let's be honest, go ask a non-astronomy oriented adult what a coronagraph is and see what they say. Ask them to describe the chromosphere and see what they come up with - bottom line, 1) we can probably all learn from this, and 2) if an adult may come across new concepts there is a good chance children will.

Challenge a young mind

This book is nice and informative but please be aware that it is aimed at 6-8 year olds. It is a childrens book. It does have very large print but it is a flimsy and a very thin paperback.