Your Place in the Universe

by Jason Chin (Author)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

With crisp illustration and intriguing science, Your Place in the Universe introduces readers to the mind-boggling scale of the known Universe.

Most eight-year-olds are about five times as tall as this book . . . but only half as tall as an ostrich, which is half as tall as a giraffe . . . twenty times smaller than a California Redwood! How do they compare to the tallest buildings? To Mt. Everest? To stars, galaxy clusters, and . . . the universe?

Jason Chin, the award-winning author and illustrator of Grand Canyon has once again found a way to make a complex subject--size, scale and almost unimaginable distance--accessible and understandable to readers of all ages. Meticulously researched and featuring the highly detailed artwork for which he is renowned, this is How Much is a Million for the new millenium, sure to be an immediate hit with kids looking for an engaging way to delve into perspective, astronomy, and astrophysics. Curious readers will love the extensive supplementary material included in the back of the back of the book

A Junior Library Guild Selection!

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School Library Journal

Starred Review

PreS-Gr 4—This picture book helps children and adults conceptualize size, space, and distance. The narrative begins with a group of curious eight-year-olds who are peering through a telescope. The text compares the kids to larger and more distant items, including a book, a giraffe, trees, and buildings. The illustrations include the objects' scale and height in feet and meters. Each picture shows the item compared to the previous example. For instance, when the text explains the size relationship between the world's tallest buildings and the world's highest mountains, Chin's extraordinary artwork shows how tiny the buildings are compared to the breathtaking mountains. The book keeps zooming out through the Milky Way and through galaxy clusters until readers are viewing the entire universe. Back matter features an author's note, information about the age of the universe and the illustrations, and print and online resources. People of all ages will want to pore over the captivating artwork and think about the relationship between size and space. VERDICT A fascinating book that is as informative as it is marvelously absorbing. A must-have for any collection.—Debbie Tanner, S D Spady Montessori Elem., FL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

This dizzyingly powerful exploration of comparative scale starts with an inclusive group of eight-year-old children who are "about five times as tall as this book, but only half as tall as... this ostrich," which is itself "taller than two eight-year-olds standing on each other's shoulders." Page-turn cliffhangers build a pleasing buzz of suspense as Caldecott Honoree Chin (Grand Canyon) adroitly guides readers from ostriches to redwood trees, past skyscrapers and Mount Everest, through Earth's layered atmosphere to the moon, and beyond the solar system to the edges of the observable universe. Brief asides offer crystalline explanations of supplemental information, including units of measurement from inches to light-years ("One foot is equal to 12 inches. Feet are useful for measuring things that are taller than humans, such as ostriches and giraffes") and concepts such as orbits, the speed of light, and the limitations of human perception from one's place in an enormous universe. Chin's realistic watercolor and gouache illustrations render awestruck children and cosmic shimmer with inimitable skill, and a magnificent spread comparing Mount Everest's mass to that of human-built structures is likely to draw gasps. Extensive back matter centers scale and astronomical concepts. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts.—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ People of all ages will want to pore over the captivating artwork and think about the relationship between size and space. . . . A fascinating book that is as informative as it is marvelously absorbing.—School Library Journal, Starred Review

★ Complex concepts (such as local galaxy groups and super clusters) are clearly defined throughout in simple captions elucidating Chin's watercolor and gouache art. . . . Extensive back matter delves deep into current understandings of the size, age, and complexity of the universe. Sources are listed along with child-friendly websites for further exploration of the big and small ideas presented in this out-of-this-world science picture book.—The Horn Book, Starred Review

★ Page-turn cliffhangers build a pleasing buzz of suspense as Caldecott Honoree Chin (Grand Canyon) adroitly guides readers from ostriches to redwood trees, past skyscrapers and Mount Everest . . . Chin's realistic watercolor and gouache illustrations render awestruck children and cosmic shimmer with inimitable skill, and a magnificent spread comparing Mount Everest's mass to that of human-built structures is likely to draw gasps.—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

As always, Chin is a stickler for details (the book was vetted by two Harvard astrophysicists); all illustrations are shown to scale with the exception of one or two final entities that would otherwise spread beyond the page. A worthy addition to STEM literature; concluded with generous back matter.—Booklist
Jason Chin
Jason Chin is a celebrated author and illustrator of children's books. He received the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in Andrea Wang's Watercress, a Newbery Honor book and APALA award winner. His book Grand Canyon was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award. His other acclaimed nonfiction titles--Coral Reefs, Redwoods, Gravity, and Island: A Story of the Galapagos--have received numerous starred reviews and other accolades. He is also the illustrator of Stephanie Parsley Ledyard's debut title Pie Is for Sharing and Miranda Paul's Water is Water and Nine Months: Before a Baby is Born, the latter a Boston Horn Globe Honor Book. He lives in Vermont with his wife and children.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780823446230
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Neal Porter Books
Publication date
September 20, 2020
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF051040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Astronomy
JNF013070 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Concepts | Size & Shape
Library of Congress categories
Measurement
Astronomy
Universe
Distances
Cosmological distances

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