What's Out There?: A Book about Space

by Lynn Wilson, Paige Billin-Frye (Illustrator)

What is the sun made of? What causes night and day? Why does the moon change shape? Colorful collage illustrations and an easy-to-understand text bring planets, stars, comets, and the wondrous things out there in space right down to earth in a simple introduction to the solar system for young armchair astronauts.

Genres: Space, Science, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Kids, Amazon, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Colleen Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is best for Kindergarten through grade 2. It explains the elements that make up outer space, such as the planets and the moon. It gives "fun facts" about the universe such as the presence of gravity (in simple terms that children can comprehend). The astronauts provide a brief introduction to how our solar system functions, explaining the concept of a planet's orbit. I found this book to be very geared for its intended audience. I liked the perspective from which the story is told because it displays the factual information from the stand point of an expert (an astronaut), which helps to relate this new format of text to the well known literary text genre. Overall, I think it managed to display basic facts in a visually appealing way for young learners. This book could be used as a foundation for a science unit on the planets because. It could also be used in activity in which students create a model of the universe, providing for them a visual aid for all of the components that make up space.

[Hope McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Awards: None
2. Preschool—3rd grade
3. Full of color, this book answers many questions about what is out there in outer space. As an introduction to the solar system book, it is simple and straight forward. The illustrations bring all the things from outer space down to Earth for young learners.
4. This informational text is useful for young learners just beginning to learn about the solar system. It provides very colorful pictures, bringing the planets and other things to life. Children will thrive from this beginner text and will yearn to learn more.
5. In the classroom:
Students can choose a planet and draw it.
Students can be assigned a planet, comet, star, etc. and dress up as such. Furthering this idea, the students can make up the solar system in the classroom.

[Susan Hawthorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for my 6 year old granddaughter and she absolutely loved it. She was learning about space in school and very interested in the stars and planets. I love finding good educational books for my grandchildren. Thanks, Lynn Wilson. This "hit the spot" with my granddaughter and me :)

[Katie Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is perfect for introducing the solar system to a classroom. It has simple details with a lot of easy to understand text. It explains why planets are called planets and how we live on a special planet, Earth. This book provides interesting facts such as the Sun is 93 miles away, the Earth’s moon takes about 27 days to orbit, or travel as the book says, around the Earth- estimating one month. My favorite part was when the book talked about astronauts and how they “bounce” when they are on the moon. The book introduces the concept of gravity and how Earth has very strong gravity, which is why we don’t bounce or float away! My overall impression of this book is that I think children would enjoy reading this as much as I did. It is a simple read and relates concepts back to the reader. It also gives realistic facts about each of the eight planets, some which I did not even know such as Jupiter is the largest planet and that all the other planets could fit inside. The illustrations do their job representing the text and they are more childlike with not a lot of explicit detail, just more colorful collages.

[Erika Stauch]

This book hasn't received any awards. It is geared for the ages 4-8 years old. This book opens children's eyes to the planets. It is vividly colored. It talks about all the planets and how the look and what they have on each of them. This book is great for young children. It opens there minds up to planets and space. It's informational and geared for children to read. I would use this in my science class. I would create a lesson around planets. After i would then have the students create their own planet and write somethings about each one.

[Ashly Schuette]

What's Out There? is a simple introduction to the solar system for young readers. The text is easy to understand, and uses colorful illustrations to describe facts about planets, starts, comets, etc.

This is an informational text for kids, as it brings a complicated and intricate concept down to the comprehension of children, full of fun facts.

This could be integrated into a space unit in a science class.

[Gina Starling · Rating 5 out of 5]

PK-2

All of the basics are covered such as the 9 planets and their relation to the sun, how the earth travels around the sun and spins, the moon, gravity, the make-up of all the planets, asteroids etc. Each topic is explained in a fun and easy way for a child to understand and the illustrations are wonderful. Highly recommend as a first book about space!

[Megan Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This provides introduction to the solar system. This also explains how the earth spins and stages of the moon. This could be used one page at a time to focus upon different aspects of the solar system, so this would be an important part of a 5E lesson about planets. I would recommend this book for older grades because it is kind of boring.

[Alex Wulfekuhle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This provides introduction to the solar system. This also explains how the earth spins and stages of the moon. This could be used one page at a time to focus upon different aspects of the solar system. This book also shows how the sun is heated. The book however is outdated, because it mentions pluto.

[Atali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring! But it helped a lot in fourth grade for the Solar system.

[Keely · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a great teaching book if Pluto were still a regular planet. Unfortunately, it's outdated. :(

[Danielle Perez]

1-awards- none
2- grade range- preschool-second grade
3- summary- This book gives children a glimpse of what else is out there in the universe. They will learn about different planets, moons and stars in a fun and engaging manner.
4- review- I found this book to be extremely useful during the science subject. It harbors reading and science together and captures the readers attention. Children will definitely have their interest sparked reading this book.
5- possible uses in class-
1) independent reading
2) read aloud/ activity
3) lesson planning