There Was a Black Hole That Swallowed the Universe

A black hole personified travels through the universe swallowing everything it comes across from galaxies to quarks. The book uses the familiar "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" refrain to take readers on a journey through space. Different sizes of matter get swallowed as the black hole traverses through space starting with the universe and galaxies, making its way through stars and planets before swallowing cells, molecules, atoms, neutrons, and quarks. The cartoon-like illustrations depict each of the described types of matter with faces and emotion adding humor to the text. Naturally, each type of matter is not depicted in proper proportion to each other as that scale wouldn't fit in the book. Using a black light, the story can be read in reverse from before the Big Bang to the creation of the universe. VERDICT As a fun way to learn about the universe and its various parts, this book makes for an excellent first purchase.-Heidi Grange, Summit Elementary School, Smithfield, UT