Description
A book on gravity falls onto a beach where a boy is playing with his toy astronaut and spaceship. Suddenly “without gravity,” everything (except the boy, who clutches an outcropping of rock) starts rising into the air and floating off into space. In the end, because “everything has gravity,” the objects fall back to earth, but the boy’s possessions end up at a lemonade stand, while a pitcher of lemonade and cups land near him. As in Chin’s Redwoods (2009) and Coral Reefs (2011), an informational text is paired with imaginative and often striking illustrations. But here, the text is quite brief, and the term gravity is explained only in the appended notes. While the main section of the book illustrates a lack of gravity in memorable ways, it does little to make the concept of gravitational pull more understandable to children. Teachers will find Franklin Branley’s Gravity Is a Mystery (2007) more useful, but Chin’s picture book will be an attractive addition to classroom units. A visually impressive piece of storytelling, it will please kids who enjoy what-if scenarios. Grades K-3. –Carolyn Phelan
