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.

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.

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)

After rain comes down, the sun comes out and dries the puddles. But the water isn't gone. The heat from the sun has turned it into water vapor-it has evaporated. Eventually, this moisture in the air condenses to form new clouds. Soon the rain will fall again. Read on to find out all the ups and downpours of the water cycle

Archaeologists on a dig work very much like detectives at a crime scene. Every chipped rock, charred seed, or fossilized bone could be a clue to how people lived in the past. In this information-packed Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science book, Kate Duke explains what scientists are looking for, how they find it, and what their finds reveal.

Did you know that a barn owl has one ear higher than the other? This helps it find squeaking mice that humans can't hear. Baby opossum hang on to their mother's fur for safety. Read and find out more about what nocturnal animals do as we sleep.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 2000 -- selected by Natn'l Science Tchrs Assoc. & Child. Bk Cncl.