This was a very fascinating book. It took me quite a while to get through it. It is by title an encyclopedia, but it is more like a small hand reference toned down to late elementary level students even appropriate for middle school to high school. I couldn’t really put the book down because I am fascinated with how things work. This book pretty much explains everything that can or has had anything to do with space and our universe. It describes in short concise detail everything from what the universe is to rocket fuel propellants to the lineation of life on Earth to the constellations. At the end of the book there is a very interesting timeline that maps the history of astronomy and even a biography section at the end that tells about many very influential people in the history of astronomy. Along with a very detailed contents section in the front and an extensive index, the book starts out with a section titled, “How this book works.” It was a very informative snippet on what to look for in the book and how to go from various ideas and concepts to another. It was very helpful while thumbing through the book for myself.
The organization of the book was topical, but also simple to complex, with a little bit of enumeration throughout. The first chapter was about what the universe is, but immediately dove into complex ideas such as scale distances and space expansion. The table of contents made the book very easy to look through if I happened to have a question of a different topic pop up in my head while I was reading a specific section. The reference aids were very beneficial to the overall structure of the book. And each page is crammed full of pictures and illustrations to act as visual models for each of the concepts discussed throughout. As I said, I got so immersed in the book that I found myself lost in the descriptions and inner workings of all sorts of very scientific concepts.
I think this book is a very essential piece to have in a science section in a children’s library. It could keep a kid busy for hours if they find space interesting and could also be used as a very credible reference for any type of project having to do with space and our universe.

This is a very good book. Although it is rather large, I found it useful to break it down into sections and teach mini-lessons with it. I really enjoyed all of the facts and information this book gave me. ( )