Skygazing: Explore the Sky in the Day and Night

Gr 4-8–This primer designed to explore and understand what appears in the sky during night and day unfortunately falls short. Each section has chapter headings that do not work to complement one another. What could have been a good STEAM addition with “DIY” panels is uneven. The projects are either too simple for the target audience or too difficult and dangerous. The pronoun “we” is used too often with no source identification. There are some generalizations made with no evidence to back them up. For example, on the page about planes, the text reads that because jet fuel contributes to greenhouse gases, we will have to fly less in the future. Although there are plenty of fun facts presented, the overall effect is one of a disjointed, surface-level hodgepodge. The illustrations are full-color and depict a variety of skin tones, but all the faces are blurry or indistinct. The drawings generally are not sharp in style. The book can be read day skies or night skies first by flipping it around. While this technique can be used to great advantage, here it is just gimmicky.