The Sun: Our Nearest Star

by Franklyn M. Branley, Edward Miller (Illustrator)

Overview

The sun brings heat, warmth, and energy to the Earth. What is the sun made of? How big is it? How far away? Read and find out!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064452021
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/28/2002
Series:	Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Series: Level 2
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	10,636
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.07(d)
Lexile:	AD570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Franklyn M. Branley is one of the co-founders of the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series and the author of close to 150 popular books about scientific topics for young readers of all ages. He is Astronomer Emeritus and former Chairman of the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium.

Dr. Branley lives in Sag Harbor, New York.

Edward Miller has illustrated A Drop of Blood and What Happens to a Hamburger? for the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Young readers can learn about what the sun is and why it is important to us in this colorful book. It explains that our sun is a daytime star and is much bigger than Earth and much farther away than the moon. The composition and heat of the sun are described on a bright page of golds, oranges, and reds while the fate of the Earth without the sun is on a dark page of blacks, grays and silvers. The reader learns that the sun, or solar energy, keeps us alive and that ancient solar energy stored in coal and oil is the fuel we use for cars, trucks, airplanes and rockets. The book ends with two easy and interesting projects. One proves to a child that plants need sunlight and the other shows how the Earth moves around the sun and casts shadows that can be used to tell time. This is a Stage 2 book in the publisher's "Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science" series. 2002 (orig. 1961), Harper Collins Children's Books,
— Janet Crane Barley

Children's Literature

K-Gr 2 This new edition features lively and inviting illustrations by Madden. Unfortunately, the drawings take some poetic license and portray the sun spewing out what look like flames. Since the sun isn't on fire there isn't enough oxygen this is misleading to young readers. This one error is more than compensated for by Branley's enthusiastic description of our sun. Sprinkled throughout the text are lots of gee-whiz facts to keep children interested. In addition, a simple experiment, showing the importance of light on plant growth, demonstrates the connections between life on Earth and our sun. There is even a mention of solar energy. Alan Newman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

School Library Journal