From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-This sight-based tutorial uses a carefully paced series of basic modules and constant reinforcement to teach even mildly motivated readers how to recognize six northern hemisphere constellations, four stars, and a galaxy. Readers will also learn how to spot planets along the plane of the ecliptic, and to use stars to tell which way is north. Each page has a simplified black sky view with a brief instruction or comment-"Okay, so find the Big Dipper in this piece of sky"-in white. Readers are urged to pause at the end of each of the three sequential sections before tackling the next exercise. A hefty selection of print and Web resources, plus advice about choosing and using a telescope, provides "Next Steps." Though not specifically aimed at them, children will have no trouble using this unusual, informal approach to making sense of the night sky. The associated Web site offers, among other features, a discussion of the pedagogical method.John Peters, New York Public LibraryCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.