Wishing on a Star: Constellation Stories and Stargazing Activities for Kids

by Fran Lee

Overview

If you go outside on a clear night, you can't help yourself. Your head tilts back, your eyes rise up, and you find yourself gazing at the stars . . . WOW! From the beginning of time, people have admired the night sky's beauty.

The night sky is our oldest picture book, and Wishing on a Star retells some of these stories from around the world in simple language that kids can understand.

Wishing on a Star also includes lots of fun activities that celebrate the stars. Learn how to make a twinkling thaumatrope, fly a starry kite, and act in your own constellation play. Star maps and stargazing tips show how to find the constellations, and cool science facts teach more about the stars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423611660
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	11/12/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	7 - 14 Years

About the Author

Fran Lee has illustrated and designed many books in our activity book series including Cooking on a Stick, Haunting on a Halloween, Riding on a Range, Wishing on a Star, and Putting on a Party. Fran lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon.

Read an Excerpt

If you go outside on a clear night, you can''t help yourself. Your head tilts back, your eyes rise up, and you find yourself gazing at the stars in the dark sky . . . WOW! From the very beginning of time, people all over the world have cherished the night sky''s amazing beauty and mystery.

How old are the stars? They''re older than you and me, older than our parents, and even older than our grandmas and grandpas. In fact, they''re older than the oldest thing you can think of! Some stars are more than billions of years old, and some more than billions of miles away! When you look at the stars, it''s like looking back in time.

Table of Contents

Contents

About the Activities

Introduction

Ursa Major & Ursa Minor, The Big Bear & The Little Bear

Leo Major, The Great Lion

Orion, The Great Hunter

Canis Major & Canis Minor, The Great Dog & The Little Dog

Pegasus, The Winged Horse

Coma Berenice, Berenice''s Hair

Cygnus, The Swan

Stargazing in the City and in the Country

Cool Books and Places

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4-5-This title combines brief versions of the mythological origins of nine constellations with related crafts and general stargazing advice. Bloopers mar both text and pictures: Polaris is not "visible from everywhere on Earth," and at least one star in a diagram of the Big Dipper is misplaced, so that a line drawn through it will not intersect the star Deneb as claimed. The other illustrations are a mix of informative (though much simplified) sky charts and decorative little bunnies, squirrels, and other wildlife. The accompanying activities vary inventively, from a simple star mobile to an ancient Greek-style play with paper-bag masks, but some of the directions are overcomplicated or skip potentially tricky steps. Furthermore, Lee enters chancy terrain by presenting some myths as teaching stories, such as that associated with the minor constellation Coma Berenices ("Berenice's Hair"), which commemorates a wife's tonsorial sacrifice to ensure her husband's return from danger, and one of the several tales behind Cygnus, the Swan, whose loyalty to the ill-fated Phaethon should "forever remind us of the importance of friendship." All in all, this is a well-intentioned effort that just tries too hard. Guides such as Milton Heifetz and Wil Tirion's A Walk through the Heavens (Cambridge, 1998) or Janice VanCleave's Constellations for Every Kid (Wiley, 1997) will give young sky watchers more accurate, systematic guidance and inspiration.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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