Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I Know Exactly What You Are

Gr 1–3—A scientifically accurate rewrite of the classic lullaby. Rather than stick with the continual wondering present in the original version, Kregenow, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has crafted a text that fits the familiar melody and states known facts, such as a description of a star as an "opaque ball of hot dense gas, million times our planet's mass." Additional verses explain constellations (as "a cosmic Rorschach's Test"), twinkling (atmospheric turbulence), and other concepts, like types of stars and star systems. About a quarter of the book, the last 10 pages, expands on each of the four-line stanzas, explaining the concepts in greater detail in the same order as it is presented in the text. Also on those pages are the interstellar photographs from which Saldaña's richly textured mixed media illustrations drew their inspiration.