Books for Moon Gazers

I love watching the moon at night. Sometimes it's so bright I can see the shadows of trees on the ground. Other nights the moon is hidden, leaving the world in darkness (as it will be on Monday night). Here are two books that celebrate the moon and those of us who love basking in its light.

 

theme: moon, animals, nonfiction

 

Thank You, Moon: Celebrating Nature’s Nightlight

by Melissa Stewart; illus. by Jessica Lanan
48 pages; ages 3-7
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2023

Thank you, Moon, for being Earth’s constant companion in space and making life on our planet possible.

Each spread opens to a scene of a moonlit night, and large text offers thanks to the moon for providing night light to animals that use the moon to navigate, gather food, and hunt – and a surprising way a tree uses moonlight. A second layer of smaller text explains more about each scene, from gravity to animal life cycles to pollination.

What I like about this book: I like how the two layers of text provides different ways for readers to enjoy this book: reading the lyrical, large text as a bedtime story or reading the sidebar text for information. Back matter provides more information about how the moon lights up our night sky, and more about the animals and tree included in the book. I also love the illustrations, done in watercolors and colored pencil – they add to the nighttime mood of the book.

 

 

I had One Question for Melissa: How did you come to write this book as a Thank You to the moon?

Melissa: Hi Sue. Thanks so much for continuing to support STEAM TEAM authors in this way. All the credit for the idea behind this book goes to my editor, Katherine Harrison. In February 2020, she tagged me on Twitter, alerting me to a conversation about how animals respond to the Moon’s cycle, and asked “Is this something you’d potentially be interested in writing? I just can’t get enough of the moon these days, and I feel like you could bring something special to it.” She also included a beautiful, eerie, mysterious image of the Moon partially obscured by clouds. It was an irresistible invitation.

Melissa has a knack for writing about irresistible topics. Earlier this year I reviewed her book Whale Fall (you can find that review here). Melissa Stewart is a member of #STEAMTeam2023. You can find out more about her at her website, www.melissa-stewart.com

 

While rummaging through my book basket I found another moon book – in fact, there are a whole bunch that have come out this year!

The Moon Tonight: Our Moon's Journey Around Earth
by Jung Chang-hoon; illus. by Jang Ho
36 pages; ages 3-7
‎Blue Dot Kids Press, 2023

The Sun sets below the horizon, and the Moon rises. Once the Sun disappears, the Moon lends its light to the dark.

A father and daughter explore their world as the moon moves through its phases. A waxing crescent moon rises early in the evening, while the quarter moon is seen higher in the sky, above the trees. After achieving fullness, the moon wanes until – there is no moon in sight! Every night the moon changes, cycling through its phases. But, the author says, “you can always see the same phase of the Moon at the same time in the same place.” This book has a more educational focus, including an activity and back matter explaining five things to know about the moon.

 

 

Beyond the Books:

Take a moon walk (without leaving the Earth). What other animals are out at night using the light of the moon?

Write your own Thank You letter to the moon. Or the stars, or trees, or something in nature that you feel thankful for.

Keep track of the Moon for a month. You probably know that the moon goes through phases, from full to half to … where did it go? Make a calendar for four weeks, and each night draw what the moon looks like to you. Do you notice any patterns in how the moon grows and shrinks? Where – and when – does the moon rise? Is it always in the same place? Is it always at the same time? Do you ever see it in the sky during the day?

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers and Blue Slip Media (Thank You Moon).

Picture Book Series for Space Travelers

 Last spring was a tough time for new book releases, what with libraries, schools, and book stores unable to host public events. So I'm sharing some STEAM books that I didn’t get time to review, and I feel are worth another look. 

This week I’m blasting off with set of four books in the Nomad Press Picture Book Science series that explore our solar system. The books are written by Laura Perdew and wonderfully illustrated by Shululu (Hui Li). 

theme: nonfiction, space, solar system

The first line of each book is a greeting from the Universe: Hello Earthlings!  Universe is proud of her Stars, and the Sun (which she calls the Shining Star of our Solar System), the Earth, and the Moon. And she tells all about how they formed and how old they are – did you know Sun is somewhere around 4.5 billion years old? Don’t put candles on that birthday cake!

The Moon is basically a chip off the old block – and has its own power, pulling the tides and providing night light for migrating birds. Stars are each a sun for their own planets (if they have them). And then there is Earth, the one-of-a-kind planet upon which we live and breathe … and hopefully work to keep healthy.

What I like about these books: They are conversational and informal, with the Universe speaking directly to the readers. She presents facts and figures as if you’re having tea and she just happens to mention the weather, or how sailors used to navigate by constellations. I like the two cute aliens who hang out on the pages commenting on the facts and occasionally sharing what they think – and sometimes explaining things. 

I like that each book begins with a poem. I like that each book ends with an activity. And I like the aliens – so much that I had to ask Laura One Simple Question:

me: Whose idea was it to have the two aliens kibbitzing? 

Laura: Ha! That was my idea (and of course the illustrator did an AMAZING job bringing them to life and really giving them personality). Those aliens deliver the layered text. At first, my editor wasn't too keen on them. We had settled on having the Universe be the narrator, but the alien idea wasn't her favorite. Since we'd been working together for so long, I was able to ask if I could write the first draft with them in. She said “yes” and her editorial notes on that first draft included "ha has" … I knew I'd hooked her. 

Beyond the Books:

How well do you know your home planet, Earth? Find a patch of planet – it can be as small as a 12-inch by 12-inch square and as large as a garden patch or a backyard – and watch how it changes over the next few weeks. Draw a picture of what you see each week. What do you notice?

Keep track of the Moon for a month. You probably know that the moon goes through phases, from full to half to … where did it go? Make a calendar for four weeks, and each night draw what the moon looks like to you. Do you notice any patterns in how the moon grows and shrinks?

Look for some stars in the sky. Can you find their constellations? Check out this NASA site to learn more. 

Laura is a member of #STEAMTeam2022. She’s got another picture book series coming out this summer, all about biomes. And she’ll be right here on the blog this coming Monday sharing some thoughts about writing STEAM books. You can find out more about Laura at her website. 

We're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the author.

Explore Outdoors ~ at night

 

This week, explore your backyard at night. Or, if you are able to, take a walk around a park after the sun sets. The world is different. It sounds different, it feels different - it even smells different. Quiet rustles in the grass sound louder. Different animals are out and about: bats, moths, and around here, coyotes.

Write down the things you notice at night. Then, if you have the opportunity, go back in the daytime and write down what you notice. 

Need inspiration? Check out this post by my friend and colleague, Leslie Collin Tribble.

Full Moon and Moonflowers

To celebrate the Full Pink Moon, I bring you… The Moonflower. It’s back in print, newly revised, and as gorgeous as ever.

The Moonflower
by Peter Loewer; illus. by Jean Loewer
32 pages; ages 6-10
Peachtree, 2019

theme: flower, nature, night

When the sun has set in the West…

The Moonflower is a lyrical and accurate account of nature at night. Beginning with sunset, we meet the crickets, moths, bats, and owls that populate the night. Eventually the moonflower opens and we get an up-close look at pollination.

I grabbed a copy of the original from the library to see how the new version compares. The title page has been updated, and the pages have a crisper look to them. Sidebar material is easier to read. And new information is included. There is more information about bumble bee nests and how bees see the world around them. The original book tells how to translate cricket chirps into temperature; this new printing includes calculations for degrees Celsius. Bats get more press in this updated version, as do moths. Overall, the sidebars and back matter have more connections to math and science.

What I like about this book: I have always liked it for its language. Bats don’t just fly, they swoop and glide. The moonflowers open “like a movie in slow motion” and hawkmoth wings beat so fast they are blurred with speed.

The back matter is still there. As before, there are directions for planting and growing your own moonflower. The glossary has grown, over the years, to reflect the additional information in sidebars.

Beyond the book:

Take a moon hike. It's a bit early for moonflowers to bloom, but not too early to check out the full moon! Tonight is the "full pink moon". Is it really pink? Does it cast moon shadows? What birds, insects, and other nocturnal wildlife do you hear as you walk?

Calculate the temperature from cricket chirps. Here are directions to do that in degrees F and C. Plus additional investigations, including chirp counts for different kinds of crickets and even katydids. If it's too cold for crickets where you are, jot this on your Things to Do list for later in the summer.

Learn more about moonflowers here, and make some paper moonflowers for an inside "garden".

Do you have any night pollinators living around your area? Check out this post, and this one about how light pollution presents a challenge to the night flyers.

Today we're joining other book bloggers over at STEM Friday, where you can discover other cool STEM books. And we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website . Review copy provided by publisher.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

 Watch the moon rise. How do the smells and sounds and colors of the night differ from daytime? Capture what you see and hear and feel in your notebook using images, words, colors.



Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

Super Moon, Eclipse, and Space Books

Sunday night will be special - not only is it the night of the full harvest moon (a "super moon" no less) but it's also a chance to see a complete lunar eclipse. The moon orbits around the earth in an imperfect circle, so sometimes it is far away from the earth and sometimes it is closer. This fall, the moon is closest to the earth, and so the full moons look bigger that usual. People call them "super moons".

Something else cool is happening, too: this coming Sunday night is a lunar eclipse. An eclipse happens when the moon passes through the earth's shadow. If you're in the eastern part of the US, head outside around 9 pm and watch the moon. Here's more about the lunar eclipse - or you can click on the poster.

Earth isn't the only planet in our solar system that has a moon - Saturn has more than 50 moons, and Jupiter has at least 67. Makes you wonder what a "super moon" or eclipse would look like from one of those planets.

Speaking of Saturn and Jupiter... Capstone has just published a new series called "Smithsonian Planets". Got questions about where the fastest winds in the solar system are? Whether people are going to Mars? What Saturn's rings are made of? Then you'll want to read about "The Secrets of Jupiter" and all the other planets: Earth, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Venus.

(What about Pluto, you ask? As you might recall, Pluto was determined to be "too small" for regular planet-hood, so is now considered a dwarf planet or Kuiper Belt object - even though it has plenty of moons of its own.)

The Secrets of Saturn
by Kassandra Radomski
32 pages; ages 7-10
Capstone Press, 2015

What I like about the books in this series is that they begin with some basic info about the planet: distance from the sun (886 billion miles for Saturn), number of moons, day-length. On Saturn a day is 10 and a half hours, but it takes 29 Earth years to make one complete orbit around the sun. So winters would be really long.... great for skiers, though how one would ski on a gas giant is anyone's guess.

Then there's the wind: at Saturn's equator, wind speeds reach up to 1100 miles per hour. Compare that to the fastest wind on Earth, 246 mph, and that was during a hurricane. Kids will learn a lot about the planet, moons, and history of ancient astronomers in this photo-rich book. The text explains concepts well in kid-friendly language, and there's lots of fun stuff: a timeline of Cassini mission, a scientist spotlight, speculation on what scientists will find next.Here's the latest news from Saturn.

Future space cadets might be interested in Enslow's new "Launch into Space" series. These books explore the earth, moon, stars, solar system and the sun. Here's one I like:
Astronauts Explore the Galaxy
by Carmen Bredeson
32 pages; ages 7-10
Enslow Publishing, 2015

The book opens with some introductory information about astronauts, with each page focusing on one aspect: free fall, what jobs they do, space walking. What do they eat in space? Apparently the same stuff I eat for lunch, only packaged differently - and there's a great photo of some of their food. You learn how astronauts brush their teeth, use the toilet, and keep their muscles in shape. There's even some tips for astronauts to be.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copies from publishers.