Gravity Is a Mystery: An Acclaimed and Illustrated Science Book About the Force for Children (Ages 4-8)

Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2

by Franklyn Mansfield Branley, Edward Miller (Illustrator)

Read and find out about gravity in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book. What goes up must come down. Everybody knows that. But what is it that pulls everything from rocks to rockets toward the center of the earth? It’s gravity. Nobody can say exactly what it is, but gravity is there, pulling on everything, all the time. With the help of an adventurous scientist and his fun-loving dog, you can read and find out about this mysterious force. This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. It's a Level 2 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series Top 10 reasons to love Books in this series support the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards. Let's-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

Genres: Science, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Physics, Childrens, Space

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m looking forward to reading the updated edition published in 2007 after the author’s death. I think this could have won the Siebert for nonfiction if they had had the medal back then (1970 for the original edition). (Note: this review was revised in light of the deep disappointment I felt at the new edition). I was quite pleased to see a Black friend helping the White main character to move a rock in one depiction. I consider this a better description of gravity than the new title I read recently by Jason Chin (Gravity). I’m likely adding to this review when I read the updated edition. The quality is evident that it is still in print in one edition after 50 years!
I'm rather annoyed that my rant on the new edition of this book disappeared into the internet ether. If I were grading this title on the current edition pictured here, rather than the original edition I praised so highly, I'd give this one star. The text is the same, other than an activity added by the publishers, I assume. However, the publishers decided to 'update" the illustrations and ruined the book in the process. There's a reason why kids' books tend to have kid characters and kid illustrations: it attracts kids' interest! So why did the publishers ignore that rule and let the illustrator, who should be banned from doing more kids' books unless the illustrator vows to use kids in the illustrations, draw a main character that is a White, middle aged, boring looking guy?!? If you look at the first paragraph, one of the things I praised highly was how a book published in 1970 had a diverse palate of characters. Oh, maybe not by today's standards. But the white BOY (not middle aged guy, grrr) had a Black friend who is treated as an equal in the illustrations. Now it is one white middle aged guy who is boring as toothpaste. It ruins the whole book. The original illustrations played a subordinate part, supporting the text and helping the explanation. The new illustrations don't do this at all. The illustrations seem to be more important than the text and do not really help explain the concept at all. Since it bothers me so much, I am going to lower my rating from 5 stars to 3.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

As mentioned in my review of Seymour Simon's Gorillas , my children's book reading is mostly in the realm of fiction, so Janet Hamilton's recent Horn Book article (What Makes a Good Science Book?) had me whipping out pencil and paper, and taking note. Franklyn M. Branley's Gravity Is a Mystery, originally published in 1970, and part of the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, was one of the first titles she discussed.

An informative introduction to the idea of gravity for young children, this picture-book does not offer a specific definition, because - as the title would suggest - "gravity is a mystery." Instead, it takes a question any young child might ask - "What would happen if you dug a hole through the earth, and fell into it?" - and expands outward from there, discussing the effects of gravity, both planetary and celestial. This approach allows for a clear and concise discussion of what we do know, while also emphasizing that there is much that we don't: we know what gravity does, we just don't know what it is.

I liked this approach, which really makes science seem exciting, with new discoveries to be made, new knowledge to be gained. Republished in 2007, with colorful new illustrations by Edward Miller, Gravity Is a Mystery is a fun book, both visually appealing and intellectually stimulating. If I were a primary-school science teacher trying to explain this concept, this is the book to which I would turn!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer children's literature but I have started buying books like this for our shelf because when I ask my 5 year old to pick a book, the Let's Read and Learn about Science books are the ones he always picks, which I think is just awesome. This book has bright colors, child friendly illustrations and outlines the simple concepts in a way that makes the science easy to understand.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book to go along with introducing an early elementary student to the concept of gravity. The pages showing what a 60-pound person would weigh on each planet (including Pluto because this hasn't been updated since Pluto's demotion) are especially handy. Overall the book is fine and held my kid's attention and reinforced a few things we had learned, but, if I saw this title in a list of recommended titles again, I wouldn't feel bad skipping it.

[Grace Tarnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Informational
Grade Range: 2-6
It's hard to find an engaging picture book about gravity! This book does a good job presenting the concept using lots of examples and comparisons. I like that there are main characters that stick with readers throughout the minilessons to give it more of a storybook feel.

[KidsBooksWorthReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gravity IS a mystery! We don't know exactly what gravity is. But this brightly colored book shares how it works! Easy to understand and interesting! What goes up must come down! Want to know why? Read this book! ⬆️⬇️

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not saying I could do a better job of explaining gravity to a six year old (I COULD NOT) but I'm also not sure that this is the best way to do it.

[El]

s+

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our library had original edition and found it underwhelming but I understand there’s an updated version that may be worth reading.

[Megan Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a work of nonfiction and it is intended for primary readers. Gravity Is a Mystery is about what gravity is and does. This book is also about what is possible because of gravity. It also explores cause and effect.
I rated this book two stars because it was a bit confusing. I feel that if it is confusing for me that it is going to be way more confusing for younger children. The illustrations are modern looking and colorful. The main character is a scientist and this would be appealing to children because children are fascinated with anything to do with science. The scientist fits in perfectly with the topic of gravity. Although children may not be able to understand this book fully they may be able to understand some concept of gravity after reading it. Children would find this book appealing because there are many illustrations of the universe and children seem to be interested in what our universe looks like.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this as part of our physics study. While I only intended to read it with my two youngest (ages 8 and 6), the older two boys (age 12) sat in with us and they enjoyed it as well. The illustrations were colorful and well done. The text was easy to understand. I thought the author did an excellent job explaining what gravity is, while not really being able to explain it! We especially loved the description of what would happen if you dug a hole all the way through the earth and how you'd bounce back and forth inside the hole until you ended up in the center.

Gravity is a difficult concept to explain, but I felt that all of us, including myself and the older boys came away with a better understanding. A great resource when studying physics.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author presents gravity in a humorous and accessible way. I loved the illustrations, but think the concept of the boy falling through the center of the earth the first time may be confusing to the younger readers who can only grasp that gravity keeps you on the ground. Loved the presentation of different weights on different planets! Again, probably better for the older readers who may be turned off by picture books.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gravity is a Mystery is a very well done science book for little kids. It doesn't jump around in format like so many non-fiction children's books and it's written in a way that makes read-aloud easy. I wasn't planning on doing a presentation about gravity, but once I started reading it, I realized that we had to do the dropping experiments. When a book makes you want to get up and explore something, it's a good book.

[Stephanie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scientist and a dog teach the lesson that "what goes up must come down". This book takes the mystery out of gravity and explains the concept in a way that young children will understand. I would use this book to teach a lesson on gravity because of the book's simple vocabulary and wonderful illustrations.

[Lauren Barone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story teaches a young audience the concept of what goes up must come down. The author does an excellent job of explaining the concept of gravity in a simple way that children can relate to as well as understand. I would definitely use this book in teaching children about outer space and gravity.

[Rebecca Snodgrass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud for young science lesson. The pictures are cute for young kids, but it seems too easy for older kids. I think science books are super cute and help students learn from something other than just lecture.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains to kids what many adults don't realize: That gravity is still today a mystery to scientists. Great stuff.

[Kelly Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good picture book, but not great.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to understanding and engaging!

[Madison Stockton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does an awesome job of explaining the concept of gravity in a way younger students could understand and relate to!

[Elanor]

All by herself!

[Brooke]

Grades: 1-2,3-4
Genre: Mystery, nonfiction
This book was interesting, it talks about how gravity works throughout the whole book. Which makes you think the question, "what exactly is gravity?". In the story he talks about other planets which is cool to see the differences between those, but he never comes to a conclusion on what gravity is. I think it would be cool to do something with my class one day to discuss what everyone thinks gravity is. Rate 5-5

[Paige]

This was an entertaining children's book about what gravity is and how it works. This book provides pictures and easy to relate to examples. It was repetitive with certain information to ensure that it was absorbed. To be completely honest, I even learned some new and interesting facts about gravity that I had not previously known. This is a book I can see myself using in a classroom to try and explain gravity to younger kids (but even as an adult, I liked the book, its cute too :P)