Your Place in the Universe

PreS-Gr 4–This picture book helps children and adults conceptualize size, space, and distance. The narrative begins with a group of curious eight-year-olds who are peering through a telescope. The text compares the kids to larger and more distant items, including a book, a giraffe, trees, and buildings. The illustrations include the objects’ scale and height in feet and meters. Each picture shows the item compared to the previous example. For instance, when the text explains the size relationship between the world’s tallest buildings and the world’s highest mountains, Chin’s extraordinary artwork shows how tiny the buildings are compared to the breathtaking mountains. The book keeps zooming out through the Milky Way and through galaxy clusters until readers are viewing the entire universe. Back matter features an author’s note, information about the age of the universe and the illustrations, and print and online resources. People of all ages will want to pore over the captivating artwork and think about the relationship between size and space.