TheMoon (Starting With Space Series) by Paulette Bourgeois. The book is auniquce ombination of facts, folklore, simple experiments, and hands-on activities.How old is the moon? Why does the moon go through phases? What causes an eclipse? Each chapter begins as a story and through a mixture of folklore and science, answers a commonly asked question. Reading level: Ages 9-12 Purchase this book.

The Stars (Starting With Space) by Cynthia Pratt Nicolson. Kids explore the night sky in a colorful and imaginative way. What are constellations? How can I find the north star? Why are some stars brighter than others? What kind of a star is the Sun? Each chapter tells a story which answers commonly asked questions about stars and the night sky. Hands on activites help demonstrate some concepts in a way kids will both have fun and learn. Reading level: Ages 9-12 Purchase this book.

The Sun (Starting With Space Series)  by Paulette Bourgeois.  How hot is the Sun? How far away is the Sun? What does the Sun have to do with seasons? This colorful and unique book introduces our closest stellar neighbor in space, the Sun. Each chapter tells a story and answers the most often asked questions about the Sun. Reading level: Ages 9 - 12. Purchase this book.

The Moon and You by Edwin C.Krupp . This jbook intdoduces the moon to young readers in a fanciful and fun manner. The first half of the book explains the basic motions of the moon, phases, tides and eclipses. To help illustrate what being on the moon is ike, the author describes a baseball game on the moon: "the gravity is so low that every hit is a homerun" "because there is no air, there is no sound, so you couldn't hear the fans cheer!"  The second half of the book describes and explains common folklore and legends about the moon. Beautifully illustrated. Reading level: ages 4 - 8. Purchase this book.

The Big Dipper and You   by Edwin C. Krupp. The Big Dipper, and the stars around it are special to many people because they can be seen all night every night of the year. This book explains why this is so and tells about the north star. Beautifully illustrated, the book also covers how other cultures in the past have seen these stars and why they were important. Reading level: Ages 9 - 12. Purchase this Book.

Find the Constellations  by Hans Augusto Rey. This book is an all time classic that has endured the years! Identifying the constellations becomes an adventure in this book and it is one every young star gazer will appreciate for years to come.  All the main constellations visible in the northern hemisphere are covered. Maps are easy to read and there are many pointers for finding the stars. There are complete timetables for finding out what's visible at a particular time. Reading level: Ages 9 - 14. Purchase this book.

The Amazing Pop-Up Pull-Out Space Shuttle by David Hawcock . Is it a book? Is it a wall chart? No, it's your own personal spaceshuttle! Not one your kids can actually climb into, but almost. Concealed within the booklike hard covers--and unfolding as magically and improbably as a life raft--is a four-foot-tall model of NASA's stubby white bird. The cargo bay opens to reveal a removable communications satellite, complete with solar panels; and there's a fully articulated robotic arm for lifting the satellite into "space." The shuttle's wings unfold, and colorful informational  panels on both sides of the main pop-up explain everything a young Mission Specialist could want to know about, from training in water tanks to chasing spheres of weightless orange juice. There are lots of facts, too: flight dynamics, noise levels at lift-off, cargo capacity, how much heat the shield can take, etc. Younger fingers will need a little help getting the whole thing unfolded and the bits and pieces tucked into place without damage. With a bit of tape, the whole thing could easily be mounted on a bedroom wall. A must for any aspiring space explorer! Reading level: Ages 5 and older.    Purchase this book.

Launch Day   by Peter A. Campbell . Children intrigued by the shuttle program will enjoy Campbell's descriptions and paintings of the preparation, launch, flight, and return of the shuttle Atlantis. The book follows the shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center's enormous Vehicle Assembly Building onto the unique Tractor-Transport Vehicle to the launch pad and into space. Unlike other books on the subject, however, this one concentrates less on the astronauts  and their flight and more on the preparation of the shuttle itself and the  logistics of fitting it with fuel tanks and moving around on the ground. Also  unusual, given the almost universal use of NASA photos (often the same ones) in books on the space program, are the attractive paintings that illustrate this volume. Reading Level: Ages 4 - 10. Purchase this book .

The Glow-In-The-Dark Night Sky Book by Clint Hatchett. Turn off the lights and watch the stars appear! These wonderful star maps glow in the dark after exposure to light. Seasonal maps show the most obvious constellations and tell how to find them. An appendix in the back of the book explains some of the mythology connected with the constellations. Beautiful illustrations show the mythical characters the constellations represent. A unique and fun approach to exploring the night sky.  Reading level: ages  8 - 13.  Purchase this book .

The Great Voyager Adventure : A Guided TourThrough the Solar System by Alan Harris. It was the Voyager spacecraft which first gave us our best views of the solar system and taught us so much about our Sun's family. This book explains the history behind the Voyager spacecraft and what they accomplished.  Readers take a tour of the planets. Illustrated with NASA images from Voyager. Reading Level: Ages 9 - 12. Purchase this book.

Is Anybody Out There?   by Heather Couper, Nigel Henbest. Does intelligent life exist beyond our planet? This visually exciting examination looks at both the myth and the science related to the question. The authors, both British science writers, describe what alien life-forms might look like, how we might communicate with them, and the mpact the discovery of extrasolar planets has had on the development of  scientific equipment. The book is organized into 17 appealing  photo-spreads, comprising color photographs, detailed captions, and boxed insets that contain information about a scientist or about a historic  scientific event, or suggested activities for would-be scientists. The inclusion of a "count the alien civilizations" foldout board game is a bonus. Reading Level: Young Adult.  Purchase this book.

Journey to the Planets   by Patricia Lauber. This is a classic book, which has been updated with the latest information about the planets as well as over 100 color images from spacecraft. It's simply the best book for a young astronomer to learn about the planets. Presented in an interesting way with well placed photographs. Reading Level: Ages 9 - 12.   Purchase this book.

Let's Look at the Planets (Poke & Look LearningBook)  by Laura Driscoll. What are planets, asteroids, and comets? What makes the sun shine? How much would you weigh on the moon? This large, spiral-bound board book  answers these questions and more as it takes young readers ona fun and informative tour of the universe. Featuring clear and simple text, intriguing word labels, and bright illustrations covering everything from shooting stars  to early astronomy and space exploration.  Reading Level: ages 4 - 8. Purchase this book.

The Magic School Bus : Lost in the Solar System   by Joanna Cole,              Following the now-familiar pattern established in three earlier science adventures, Ms. Frizzle and her class rocket into outer space in the Magic School Bus. The pages are packed with informative morsels in the form of school reports as well as with humorous asides by members of the class.  -- Copyright © 1991 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved. Reading Level: Ages 4 - 8. Purchase this book.

Merlin's Tour of the Universe : A Skywatcher's Guide to Everything from Mars and Quasars to Comets,  Planets, Blue Moons, and Werewolves by Neil De Grasse Tyson.  Merlin, a fictional visitor from the Andromeda Galaxy, Planet Omniscia has been friends with many of the most important scientific  figures of the past including Kepler, da Vinci, Magellan, Doppler, Einstein and Hubble. In this delightful tour of the galaxies, Merlin often recounts his conversations  with these historical figures in his responses to popular astronomy questions asked by adults and children alike. Merlin's well-informed answers combine a unique combination of wit and poetry along with serious science explained in refreshingly clear, reader-friendly language. Dear Merlin: Can a person cross our galaxy in a spaceship during one human lifespan? Merlin: In 1905, Merlin's good friend Albert Einstein ntroduced the "Special Theory of Relativity," which predicts that time will tick slower and slower the faster you travel. Were you to embark on such an adventure  you could conceivably age as little as you wish, depending of course, on  your exact speed. The problem arises when you return to Earth, which will have moved several hundred thousand years into the future and everyone will have forgotten about you!  A skywatcher's book for lovers of the universe by one of its greatest lights.  Reading Level: Young Adult.  Purchase this book.