[Jump Into Science: Stars] [By: Tomecek, Steve] [May, 2006]

Jump Into Science

by Steve Tomecek

What are stars made of? Where do they go in the daytime? How far away are they? A boy and his bike-riding dog take readers on a stellar journey to answer these and other intriguing questions. Along the way, children discover that our sun is a star and that stars of many sizes and colors twinkle throughout the universe. Simple text and whimsical art introduce the science of stars, explaining concepts such as brightness, distance, and why stars appear to move across the sky. Then patterns in the stars come to life dramatically in the form of lions, bulls, and people in the various constellations.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Demi Bradberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book that contains information about the Stars. It informs the students on why we don’t see stars at night and different constellations we may see in the sky. This book was fun to read because it was very informative and gives kid-friendly insight on the stars. One way to incorporate this book in the classroom is to read aloud when the students are learning about the stars and it will also be good to read to them and then they retell the story by stating the main idea with key details from the book.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good quality informational picture book for students to learn about stars as well as constellations. Throughout the book, there are various different images of constellations and the book is interactive by having upside-down pages that require the students to flip the book. I would use this book in a 2nd-grade classroom when working on introducing stars and constellations to the students.

[Taylor Brickley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a nonfiction children's book that explains what stars are and what they are made up of. He explains what constellations are and what ones we can see from earth. I liked this book because the author explains difficult terms in a kid friendly way. I would use this book in my classroom to help students understand what stars are and how they are formed.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better for readers who are a bit older, maybe 6+ than 4 and under. Illustrations sort of reminded me of The Little Prince so automatically I liked it. The content was also very interesting and educational. Overall, I really enjoyed it (unsure if my son truly did) so I’m giving it 4/5 stars ⭐️

[Lynnea (Juv) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple explanation of constellations, etc.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3rd-4th Grade
Steven Tomecek has written a children’s book that explains what stars really are, shows what they are made up of, and uses constellations showing how they can be seen from earth. This story shows a boy riding his bicycle through the picture book going through all the lessons that are given throughout. The Illustrations are brightly colored with sharp lines defining what is on the page. Students will enjoy the illustrations as well as the facts that Tomecek adds throughout the book. It is a more advanced read that the cover may indicate, but to the right age group this can be a very interesting book. I enjoyed the read and got some good information out of the book.
Science/ Language arts – In the book they mention space flight and how long it will take to get from our sun to the next closest star. Have the students write about what they would do in space while traveling from one star to another.

[Lita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about stars. It tells what happens to stars during the day and that our sun is a star. It also tells what the stars are made of. There is also an activity includes in the back of the book that helps students comprehend how the distance of the stars affects the amount of light we see here on Earth.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of stars and constellations. I used this with my Kindergartner - 2nd grader class. They enjoyed it and it nicely summarized everything we were learning about stars and those grade levels.

[Colleen Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was great for younger students learning about science. It shows different constellations and star formations while talking about what stars are made of. It is easy to read and the pictures and explanations are kid friendly.

[Gaby Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was an okay story for students when learning about the solar system. It allows students to learn about stars and constellations. I would have my studnets research about different constelations and allow them to share one they learned about during morning meeting.

[Olivia Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was a great non-fiction picture book for kids. It had great illustrations and all of the descriptions were very clear. It also destroyed misconceptions that kids may have about what stars look like and that our sun is a star.

[Jen]

This book is written very accessibly for relatively young students while delivering important information about stars. (Nonfiction; read in English as Stars)

[Melanie Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is informational but the author did a great job of making it more. The information is introduced to us by a boy who takes a journey with his dog. We learn all kinds of fact about stars.

[Melanie Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read for those learning about stars or for the curious of mind. The book offers alot of information from what stars are to how they affect the earth.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

living book

[Kelly Mendieta]

Summary: This book is a non fiction picture read aloud book about stars. It explains, in kid friendly, scientific terms why we can't see stars during the day. It also describes what stars are made up of and how each star looks unique. It also teaches students about distance and perspective. The last half of the book focuses on constellation patterns.
Evaluation: This book is an informational text. But, it is written is kid friendly language so it's easy to follow along and read. It also includes very colorful illustrations. Although this book is good for read alouds, it also has a lot of information on stars and introduces scientific language to kids. This book would be ideal when creating a text set on a science unit plan on stars/planets.
Teaching idea: You can use this book to do a lesson on visualization. After modeling how to visualize a text, read the book and stop on certain pages. When you stop on the selected pages, ask students to draw their mental picture on their whiteboards. Have students share what they drew and why.