Your Place in the Universe
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Explore the known Universe and consider its mind-boggling scale in this crisply illustrated, well-researched picture book from Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin.
Winner of the Cook Prize!
Most eight-year-olds are about five times as tall as this book . . . but only half as tall as an ostrich, which is half as tall as a giraffe . . . twenty times smaller than a California Redwood! How do they compare to the tallest buildings? To Mt. Everest? To stars, galaxy clusters, and . . . the universe?
Jason Chin, the award-winning author and illustrator of Grand Canyon has once again found a way to make a complex subject--size, scale and almost unimaginable distance--accessible and understandable to readers of all ages. Meticulously researched and featuring the highly detailed artwork for which he is renowned, this is How Much is a Million for the new millenium, sure to be an immediate hit with kids looking for an engaging way to delve into perspective, astronomy, and astrophysics. Curious readers will love the extensive supplementary material included in the back of the back of the book
An American Library Association Notable Children’s Book
A New England Book Award Finalist
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This dizzyingly powerful exploration of comparative scale starts with an inclusive group of eight-year-old children who are "about five times as tall as this book, but only half as tall as... this ostrich," which is itself "taller than two eight-year-olds standing on each other's shoulders." Page-turn cliffhangers build a pleasing buzz of suspense as Caldecott Honoree Chin (Grand Canyon) adroitly guides readers from ostriches to redwood trees, past skyscrapers and Mount Everest, through Earth's layered atmosphere to the moon, and beyond the solar system to the edges of the observable universe. Brief asides offer crystalline explanations of supplemental information, including units of measurement from inches to light-years ("One foot is equal to 12 inches. Feet are useful for measuring things that are taller than humans, such as ostriches and giraffes") and concepts such as orbits, the speed of light, and the limitations of human perception from one's place in an enormous universe. Chin's realistic watercolor and gouache illustrations render awestruck children and cosmic shimmer with inimitable skill, and a magnificent spread comparing Mount Everest's mass to that of human-built structures is likely to draw gasps. Extensive back matter centers scale and astronomical concepts. Ages 4 8.
