The Skies Above My Eyes

by Charlotte Guillain, Yuval Zommer (Illustrations)

Have you ever looked up and wondered what's going on high up in the skies above your eyes? Take a journey up into the air, through the atmosphere, way out into space, and back down to Earth in this richly illustrated concertina book.

Zoom past the technology that fills our skies, from helicopters, fighter jets, weather balloons, to satellites, hang-gliders, and hot-air balloons. Discover the insects and animals that whizz through the skies, explore the layers of the atmosphere, and travel through the solar system and out to the galaxies far beyond. The follow up to The Street Beneath My Feet , which dug down to the center of the Earth, this expansive concertina book opens out to an impressive length of over 8 feet , perfect for inquisitive young minds.

Begin your journey from the sidewalk of a busy city. Look up beyond the traffic lights, utility wires, and skyscrapers. Unfold the connected pages to reveal the incredible man-made sights that you would see 12 miles above (a weather balloon), 30 miles above (a rocket blasting a capsule into space), 62 miles above (a space plane and satellites), 250 miles above (the International Space Station), 235,000 miles above (the Moon), and through our Solar System.

Turn to the top of the other side to make your way beyond the Solar System to the hundreds of billions of galaxies filled with stars and planets we haven't discovered yet. Then start your journey back down through the amazing natural wonders you would see 6,200 miles above (a comet), 55 miles above (meteoroids burning up as they enter Earth's atmosphere), 7 miles above (a cumulonimbus cloud bringing thunder and lightning), 1 mile above (migrating storks), and down through the mountains, past trees, bats, and butterflies to finally reach the ground again—this time in a grassy clearing of a forest, where you can imagine yourself lying on your back wondering at the thought of the whole universe above your head.

From jet trails to comets' tails, enjoy amazing sights as you journey through the skies .

Explore even more of the world with The Street Beneath My Feet (March 2017) and The World Around Me (October 2020), companion books from the Look Closer series .

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Nonfiction, Space, Childrens, Nature, Astronomy

20 pages, Hardcover

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

Charlotte Guillain has written over 100 books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her most well-known titles are the 'George's Amazing Adventures' picture book series, including 'Spaghetti with the Yeti' and 'Pizza for Pirates'. 'Spaghetti with the Yeti' was shortlisted for nine awards, including the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. Before writing children's books, Charlotte worked as a bookseller, a teacher of English as a Foreign Language, and an editor.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Skies Above My Eyes is a great book filled with facts about all the stuff that's over your head ;) Starting with describing things like sky scrapers in a city, and then moving slowly further and further away from the Earth's surface, this book describes what you will see at each level of "the sky".

I love how detailed some of the images are, with lots of different things going on in the scene and tons of accompanying fact bites. I know some little ones who could spend a very long time poring over each of those pages.




Other pages were on the dark side, making them more difficult to read. I would prefer to see more contrast when reading, especially when the target group is new readers.



Overall, though, this book is sure to be a hit with kids who love learning facts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures for providing me with a DRC of this book.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn't have pages, but a fold out strip of thick card, like a height chart. This shows the what's above our heads. One side about nature, and one side what humans have put there. Like a height chart, it shows how far above the earth each layer is. Very nice illustrations. You need some space to fold this out, but it is good this way to visualise the layers and distances.

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Skies Above My Eyes by Charlotte Gullain is a non-fiction book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. This is a very clever and gorgeously illustrated book. The book starts out asking the reader to look up and asks the reader to note the things in the sky close to them, then farther away, then farther, then farther... on up to the last planets in our solar system. Then it follows an asteroid back down, all the while teaching the different layers of the atmosphere, planets, asteroid belts, and more. It follows it all the way back down to the little girl that is still looking up but now to things that are much closer. Very clever. The illustrations are busy, bright, imaginative, and will keep the most restless reader reading and interested. Clever all the way around!!! Learning and they get the wonder of the sky and beyond, delightful!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the concept of the levels of "Up" there are. From the sky above our heads, all the way out into the outer areas of the solar system, and then back down again.

And, if I learned something from reading this, I'm sure others will as well.

Simply told, by looking up and up, and talking about each layer of the earth's atmosphire, and on into the outer regions.





Good addition to any home or library. A good introduction to easy to understand science.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful concertina book for children, illustrating what they see when they look up, starting at street level, through the skies, the atmosphere, the solar system, the galaxies, then back down to Earth viewing comets, meteoroids, clouds filled with lightning, past mountains, flying creatures, and into a peaceful forest. A glorious ride! 5 of 5 Stars for imagination, stunning artwork, and info-rich text.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine. Pub Date 28 Aug 2018.

#TheSkiesAboveMyEyes #NetGalley

[Rachael R · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review"

This book was amazing and I will read it again with my daughter. It was informative and the illustrations were beautiful. It is a great book for children to learn more in a fun, interesting way

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool book, with layers of the sky unfolding from the pages. Fun for a classroom.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: Kid friendly, fun illustration and facts. Good book to put in with other STE(A)M book collections in classroom or at home.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This large book folds out so that all the pages in the book make one big long piece of paper. While that is a cool way to design this book, it’s hard to read it that way, so I read this book accordion-style which is how this book is folded to fit nicely inside the cover pages. I then, stretched the huge page out to fully grasp the whole concept of this monster-sized page.

This book is a journey into the sky above our heads. There is writing and colorful illustrations on both sides of the cardstock paper which covers everything from skyscrapers, clouds, birds, planets, astronauts, and the different layers of the atmosphere.

The two pages are different somewhat. They both start off by showing you things that you can see right above your eyes, at the bottom of the page. As you look up the page, it’s like looking up into the sky. The book places items according to how many miles above Earth they occur and in which atmosphere they occur.

Looking further up on one of the pages, you see items in the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, the Thermosphere, and then we cross over the imaginary line that marks the beginning of space which, I didn’t even know had a name! This is known as the Karman Line. Now the page is sectioned off only by how many miles above Earth they are, so the further you look up the page, the farther from Earth you are. At the very top of the page, you are out of the Solar System beyond Kuiper Belt.

On the other side of this huge pull-out page, again we start off by looking at the items right above our head but the increments above our head are not so vast. It’s a slower incline: 1 mile, 3 miles, and it take a bit of time to get to 9 miles. We only hit the Mesosphere and the Exosphere on this side of the pull-out because there are more illustrations and more information in these atmospheres.

I learned a few things as I read through this colorful book and I think kids will like the pull-out concept, although I wasn’t a big fan. I liked how the book was arranged and I really enjoyed the colorful illustrations. I liked how they didn’t get crazy with the font in this book. They stayed with black and white and they used large enough fonts so you could read it as you enjoyed the illustrations. This is a fun, educational book that I feel kids will love to look at and read. 4.5 stars

[Hannah]

I think my favorite part of this book was the opening line. “Have you ever looked up and wondered what's going on high up in the skies above your eyes? Take a journey up into the air, through the atmosphere, way out into space and back down to Earth in this richly illustrated concertina book.” This book was very well written and illustrated as it drew a bigger picture. Personally this is not a book I would read for the fun of it, but it is one that I would recommend for children. I would read this to a group of students just because of how creative the author and illustrator were with this book. They really made this book very intriguing and have you excited about learning things in space. The author did a wonderful job making this book child friendly and keeping their audience involved. I had to read this book in person and come back to write the review because I wanted the chance to interact with the book. This book has many aspects that keep its readers interested. Creating a book with many facts about the universe while keeping it interesting with its illustrations that they can have fun with.

[Andreea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is such a beautiful book for all little kids to get curious about what's above our eyes!

Without a doubt, I loved the concept of this book - how it starts from down and goes up, so does the way you read the book and then it changes! The art is really colorful, yet informational and fun at the same time. The text begins as a poem until you realize it is full of scientific information (they do need a bit more research though, I did not notice many mistakes but there are a few).

It is about animals, about humans, about the Earth, about the sky, about the planets and the stars, about the Universe... it's a book about everything above our eyes!

[Clair Atkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Skies Above My Eyes is a concertina style book that opens up to over 2.5 metres in length! Starting at ground level in a busy city, when we look up we can see street signs, high rise buildings and window cleaners on a cradle. As we go higher and higher we see airplanes, rocket ships, satellites, the International Space Station, astronauts, the moon, all the way out to the solar system.
And then we start to come back down to earth via the Milky Way and the Northern Lights and thunder storms. It also looks at how high some birds can fly – Ruppell’s griffon vulture can fly the highest – over 10km above the earth. Even Swans fly 8km above the earth! We then see hot air balloons, skydivers and end up on the forest floor staring up at sky.
This is a really good idea for a book – the concertina pages make it a fun and exciting way to read and learn. Getting on the floor with your child and opening it out to the full length is loads of fun and may entice more reluctant readers to engage. There are lots of illustrations and facts and I’d imagine it is the sort of book that a child would be able to get something new from every time they looked. Even if they just enjoy looking at the pictures, I think there is still value in the book. And I have to admit, I learnt quite a bit too!
I think age range would be 3+ for sharing, 5-7 for reading and enjoying independently.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This definitely wins the award for most creative book I have read this year. The entire book folds out into a huge, tall spread illustrated with mesmerizing details and illustrations that go from a little girl up, up, up into outer space. On one side it shows a little girl in the city looking up at the expansive sky. On the other side, the little girl is out in the country lying on her back looking way up into the sky. The only downside that I can see is that this format is a little hard to share with a group, but wow is it stunning. The way it captures the expanse of what's above us is inspiring. 

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful adventure from Earth to the outer reaches of the Solar System and back again! Full of colourful pictures and intriguing facts this book has something for every child. From facts about how high planes fly to the difference between cosmonauts and astronauts, the distances of each of the planets from the Earth, and the spiders that parachute above the world.

I loved this book and it's one I'm sure I'll come back to time and again, there's so much more to learn from it!

I'll be recommending this to classes in school exploring a space topic and to the children who have an interest in space, birds, and transport! There's something for everyone!

[Paul Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover made me think this would be about astronomy, but it stays on Earth, at least in the beginning, urging the reader to look up whenever they’re outside. From there it indeed goes higher and higher, all the way to the edge of the solar system, before literally returning to Earth, checking out things like clouds and birds that were missed on the way out.
Educational in a fun way, well-written, but the background is incredibly full and distracting. It seems to all be in shades of blue. It brings an artsy side to science, but it might be too much at once.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what is going on up above your head in the sky? Go for a ride through the sky you can see and then into outer space. This simple kids book gives some great explanations to what we can see, and what we cant! Great for kids between the ages of 5-8.

[Hayley Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written factual story with lovely illustrations. The story starts from the ground and works up through the different layers in the sky and into space. Useful to link to science and geography topics.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very pretty and fun, but too much detail for my 4 year old - we ended up looking at the pictures and discussing a summarized version.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geography or Science lesson

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. An amazing book with a huge fold out. A great gift book for younger readers who love the skies.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hätte mir gendersensiblere Sprache gewünscht.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's cool about this book is how it folds out!

[Mel Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS SO COOL! I love the way it pulls out and you keep reading up and up and up! And then down, down , down! But it's set up so you can just flip the pages and read it like a regular storybook too. I learned things I didn't know! Like just how close outer space really IS from us. Only 60some miles away? That's not far at all!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

#TheSkiesAboveMyEyes #NetGalley

This is a good book to add in the STEAM collection for children. A very colorful and interesting book for children from 5 to 9 years old. The subjects can be used for a sciences class or for general education. Nice work!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations and a plethora of easy to understand facts about the sky above our heads and what's in it. Insects, birds, astronauts o the ISS, the moon, comets and more.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This illustrated book includes so much information that it will be read and re-read by young folks interested in science and the skies. The book starts by encouraging readers to observe what they see when they look up into the sky; for example, they may see those in apartment buildings or window washers or lightning rods on tall buildings. The author then has readers see what there is by going higher and higher before back down to earth. So...there are airplanes, space stations, galaxies, etc. and on the way down clouds, birds and so on. The illustrations are engaging and add to the fun of the facts. This book seems like a great way to encourage young readers and their adults to observe and learn more about their world.

[Jen Solak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful images are accompanied by an explanation of the things “up there” for children. We talk about space often to children, but it can be hard for them to figure out where that is exactly. Through this book, starting with things they can see above them and then building up to further distances it makes the concepts more accessible to the kids reading it!

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review,

[KayKay · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Skies Above My Eyes" brings children's imagination to the next level. By drawing our eyes up, the illustrations bring readers "to see" the world beyond what we human eyes perceive. Layer by layer, from street signs to the top of skyscrapers, from airplanes to rockets, readers travel from earth to space then gradually back to the land. The entire concept of the book is carefully planned; it definitely helps young children to build a concrete understanding of depth from our spherical earth to the space beyond.

This little book covers an array of topics- space science, some earth science, few animals habitats/migrations and enough interesting tidbits of random knowledge. This is a fun book packed with quality materials. Parents and educators should check this awesome book out for their youngsters.

[Sally Wilsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nicely illustrated book about looking up into the skies. It goes through showing earth and skyscrapers, and towers on top of buildings. Then goes to space and satillites and spacecrafts. To the moon and planets and deep space. Then comes down again to mountains, balloons, gliders back down to earth and the ground. This is just enough to keep a child entertained and learn something about space and more. I recommend this book for 5-7 yr olds.
I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual nonfiction picture book, The Skies Above My Eyes, by Charlotte Gillian, is a creative and artistic look at the world above us. Starting close to us and moving all the way into outer space and back, with factoids along the way to inform the reader about everything from the Kuiper Belt to monarch butterflies, this book takes the reader on a delightful journey.