Our featured November books this year, are about space travel and exploration, planets, moons and stars. Many are factual and scientific, some are fictional, and some are poetic.
Planets: A New View of the Solar System, by David A. Aguilar, National Geographic Society, Washington, DC2008
A clear explanation for children of the types of planets in our solar system and what an astronomer today knows about each of them and how they were formed, by the Director of Science Information at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Find the Constellations, by H. A. Rey, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, MA, 2008
This is a wonderful children's guide to locating all the traditional constellations, with their Latin names and old legends that come from antiquity, in the modern sky, while also learning many facts that the modern science of Astronomy knows about them.
Stars! Stars! Stars!, written and illustrated by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Tarrytown, NY, 2009
When Minna expresses an interest in stars, her mother suggests that she invite a few friends to a star party, including a special dinner, a trip to the new Star Space at the Children's Museum, and star gazing, but the story is sprinkled with lots of facts about the solar system, stars and galaxies.
Mars and the Search for Life, Elaine Scott, Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, NY 2008
A review of what scientists know about Mars, the possibility of life there, and how they learned it, from early observations from Earth to the orbiters and landers of recent NASA missions, like Spirit and Phoenix.
The Moon, by Seymour Simon, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers New York, NY, 2003
Many facts about the moon, its environment, and exploration by the Apollo astronauts, all clearly illustrated by NASA photographs.
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca, A Richard Jackson Book, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, NY, 1995
The exciting Apollo 11 mission to the moon is described and illustrated for young readers.
The Inside & Out Guide to Spacecraft,by Clare Hibbert, Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL, 2006
The title of this book says it all, as it describes and illustrates the design and features of many space vehicles from the first Sputnik through the International Space Station, including the Space Shuttles, Moon Lander, Mars Pathfinder mission, MIR, and more.
One Giant Leap, by Robert Burleigh, paintings by Mike Wimmer, Philomel Books, Penguin Putnam, Inc., New York, NY, 2009
Another story of the Apollo 11 mission concentrating on the descent to the moon suface in Eagle, the two hours the astronauts spent on the surface, and the return trip to earth.
The Moon Over Star, by Dianna Hutts Aston, pictures by Jerry Pinkney, Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Putnam, Inc., New York, NY, 2008
On her family's farm in the town of Star, eight-year-old Mae eagerly follows the progress of the 1969 Apollo 11 flight and moon landing and dreams that she might one day be an astronaut too.
Space Shuttles, by Steve Kortenkamp, Capstone Press,Mankato, MN, 2008
This "First Facts" book describes the uses and history of the NASA Space Shuttles, including the two missions that ended in accidents, and touches on the future of the NASA space program.
The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, poems collected, written and illustrated by Nacy Elizabeth Wallace Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA 2003
These poems, about the sun, moon and stars, include some by the author/illustrator and poems by Walter de la Mare, Russell Hoban, Frank Asch, Jane Taylor and others.
Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and paintings , by Douglas Florian, Harcourt, New York, NY, 2007
These poems, and the associated painted illustrations, each deal with a topic in astronomy from the universe and the solar system to a black hole.
Harnessing Power from the Sun, by Niki Walker, Crabtree Publishing Company, New York, NY, 2006
Straying a bit from this list's main topic of Space, this book explains the role of the sun in providing energy and how solar energy can be captured and used.
Buzz Aldrin: Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin, paintings by Wendell Minor, HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, NY, 2005
Buzz Aldrin recounts the events of his own life, and how his dreams of going to the moon came true.
The Swamps of Sleethe: Poems From Beyond the Solar System, by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by jimmy Pickering, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 2009
These poems are just for fun, and have no scientific basis at all, but examine the possibility that other places in space may be weird and less than friendly.
These are links to all our Estabrook Library book lists from other months and years.
January
February
March
April
May
June
Summer
September
October
November
December
Math & Science
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