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S is for Science Book for Toddlers

By gregladen on August 11, 2012.

G is for Galaxy: An Out of This World Alphabet (Alphabet Books) is one of a series of kid's alphabet books with an interesting twist. The pages have the usual big letter, a picture of something that starts with that letter, and a short sentence or two referring to that word. But on the same page is anywhere from one to a few paragraphs of extra text written at a basic level but seeming targeted to the adult who is reading the book to the kid, providing additional context, background, and details. For instance:

"G is for Galaxy, a big family of stars so bright. Our is called the Milky Way, a small part we see each night."

Cute little poem.

Then, off to the side on the opposing page...

"A galaxy is a family of stars, but in such a huge family you'd never meet every member. There are billions of stars in one galaxy. Planets are part of a galaxy, too. So are dust and gasses. Gravity keeps the family together. We are in the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a huge galaxy of about 100 billion stars, but astronomers remind us that the Milky Way is just one galaxy out of billions. Galaxies come in different shapes and sizes. Our galaxy has been compared to a big pinwheel"

I think it is a brilliant idea. Huxley was not that impressed but sometimes a specific book will grow on him after a while.

Other books in the series include A is for America, W is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Alphabets), I is for Idea: An Inventions Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Alphabets), Z Is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet (Alphabet Books), and T Is for Teacher: A School Alphabet (Alphabet Books).

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I don't think the paragraph text is intended for an adult, necessarily. It sounds about like text intended for a 4 to 6 year old...if you have not yet encountered this with Huxley, sometimes you have books that you read the short bits when their toddlers and the longer parts when they're a little older, but not yet reading independently. My kids have several sets of books written on that model.

I will buy it tomorrow, for my grandkids! Thanks for the heads up! :)