Young stargazers learn about different star colors and brightnesses, how to locate major constellations, and how to make mini planetariums by using coffee cans and flashlights. 'A fine job of encouraging young people to look at stars and constellations. . . . Highly recommended as a science resource book." --Science and Children. "A dandy book for primary grade] readers." --AP.

How do we know what dinosaurs were like?

Dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago. Then suddenly they all died out. How do we know now what they looked like? How do we know that they really existed at all? Read and find out how scientists have proven the existence of dinosaurs by studying fossil remains. Each new fossil find helps them to ice together a picture of what the world was like millions of years ago.

Why should you be a friend to trees?

Trees are a valuable natural resource. People depend on trees for food, and animals depend on trees for food and shelter. But most important, we depend on trees because they add oxygen, a gas we all need, to the air. While trees give us many wonderful products, we must also protect them because we can't live without them.

Learn about what happened when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled tons of oil in Alaska in 1989 and how people cleaned it up.

Are you like a cat?

You don't look like a cat. But you and a cat have something in common: You are both alive. People and plants and animals are all alive, but is a doll alive? Or your tricycle? How can you tell? Read and find out what makes something alive, and what all living things need to stay healthy.

Night and day, whether you're asleep or awake, your heart is always beating. Read and find out how your heart works and how to keep it healthy.

Don't jump

If you're on the space shuttle, that is. Astronauts never jump in space. They usually drink out of straws, and they lift tons of equipment as if it were light as air. Find out more in this information-packed voyage into space.

Birds don't need maps

Many birds make long journeys twice each year as they migrate between their winter and summer homes. Arctic terns fly more than 10,000 miles from the South Pole to northern Maine. Tiny little hummingbirds fly nonstop over the ocean for 500 miles. How do they know which way to fly? Why don't they get lost? Read and find out the many ideas scientists have come up with to explain this mystery.

" Here is] a charming introduction to the truly amazing octopus from its intelligence to its ability to change colors to the camouflaging black ink it squirts to escape predators]. Lauber's chatty, fact-filled text makes the book a good read-aloud, and Keller's amusing and colorful drawings enhance it--a perfect match of text and illustration." --SLJ.

Children's Books of 1990 (Library of Congress)

Moonlight is really sunlight

Did you know that the moon doesn't make its own light? Instead, it receives light from the sun and reflects it to us on the Earth. Read and find out about how the sun, the stars and light bulbs make light so we can see.Did you know that moonlight is really sunlight? The moon can't make its own light, so it receives light from the sun and then sends it to us here on the Earth.

Any child who's ever wondered about the fascinating properties of light will want to read this classic science title. Readers will even learn how fast light can travel: from the...