mamajag Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 (edited) DD1 has fallen in love with the series How the Universe Works and wants to read more about galaxies, black holes, birth and death of stars, etc. She understands and breathes in every word they say. She's reading at roughly a 6th to 7th grade level right now. Does anyone have any recommendations for books she might like? I keep seeing books targeted at elementary students, but she would not be happy with them at all. I would really appreciate it, and I have a pretty big amazon gc in my pocket with her name on it. ETA: We're secular homeschoolers and looking for the same in science books. :) Edited February 15, 2012 by mamajag clarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 DD1 has fallen in love with the series How the Universe Works and wants to read more about galaxies, black holes, birth and death of stars, etc. She understands and breathes in every word they say. She's reading at roughly a 6th to 7th grade level right now. Does anyone have any recommendations for books she might like? I keep seeing books targeted at elementary students, but she would not be happy with them at all. I would really appreciate it, and I have a pretty big amazon gc in my pocket with her name on it. ETA: We're secular homeschoolers and looking for the same in science books. :) Has she read "George's Secret Key to the Universe," or other books in that series? That's fiction, but does involve astronomy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Has she read "George's Secret Key to the Universe," or other books in that series? That's fiction, but does involve astronomy. I had never heard of them, but look like she would enjoy them. Thank you! :001_smile: Fiction had never even crossed my mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I suggest looking into the series Through the Wormhole, very similar to How the Universe Works. I have no suggestions for reading material. My ds plans on astrophysics for a major, but everything I am familiar w/requires at minimum high school level physics and reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 I suggest looking into the series Through the Wormhole, very similar to How the Universe Works. I have no suggestions for reading material. My ds plans on astrophysics for a major, but everything I am familiar w/requires at minimum high school level physics and reading. Thanks. :001_smile: I'll check Netflix for it later. The problem with the books I find is that either they are elementary level "this is a planet" books or high school and up. It has been difficult to find something on her level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 The Universe is another fun TV series. I picked up all 79 episodes on Blu Ray for around $50, so shop around. Russell Stannard writes an interesting series of books too, if your child likes "George's Secret Key". I don't remember whether what sort of grade level it's written to, but it's roughly comparable to the Hawking series. You could start letting her cut her teeth on more grown-up fare, perhaps skipping the "Sex on the Moon" book. :) If it's written for advanced laypeople, the reading and science comprehension level may be just right for your child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBS Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I just got Why Aren't Black Holes Black? by Robert M. Hazen to go with the Teaching Company DVDs "Joy of Science" by him. We already had Science Matters . These might fit. I haven't read either one, though, to review knowledgeably. Got both from Amazon quite cheaply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 The Universe is another fun TV series. I picked up all 79 episodes on Blu Ray for around $50, so shop around. Russell Stannard writes an interesting series of books too, if your child likes "George's Secret Key". I don't remember whether what sort of grade level it's written to, but it's roughly comparable to the Hawking series. You could start letting her cut her teeth on more grown-up fare, perhaps skipping the "Sex on the Moon" book. :) If it's written for advanced laypeople, the reading and science comprehension level may be just right for your child. I just found all 5 seasons on Netflix instantly. :D My daughter saw me queueing it, asked where I found out about it, and said to tell you thank you. I have thought about letting her try the more advanced books but was unsure if I'd be dropping her in the way too deep end of the pool. We live in a very rural area, and the book store is mostly cookbooks and NYT Bestsellers so I have to order virtually everything from amazon. It's so hard to basically guess about the books. I will download some Kindle samples for her and see if anything tickles her fancy. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) Button also loves How the Universe Works. We are using Apologia Astronomy, with the experiment supplies to match from Rainbow Resources, and he loves it. We are old earth, and do not believe that the Lord personally situated the earth in space so as to ensure a balmy climate for mankind (I know and respect persons who believe this, but we just don't); so right now I re-write each section of the text before we do it, in Word, and bring the information in line with academic science. The result is a "secularized" text. This is pretty easy b/c of the internet (whoo-hoo!) and prob. b/c I have a science background, but it takes a bit of time. We read from my no-pictures, printed document. Then I let him look at the Apologia text for pictures. He commented the other day, "Mama! This book says nearly the exact same thing that you read!" :D another option: Mara Pratt's Storyland of the Stars. It's vintage, and I haven't read much yet, but it looks lovely for this age & interest. No apparent need to radically edit, but Pratt's American history is dated in terms of being very Eurocentric, so heads-up for that sort of thing. I'm planning on getting it onto DH's e-reader and working from that over the weekend to see if Button warms to it. Edited February 16, 2012 by serendipitous journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Dh has Hawking's books A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes, and The Universe in a Nutshell. Not long ago I found ds8 reading The Universe in a Nutshell after dh left it out. Some of it went over his head I think, but he seemed to be enjoying it for the most part. I should mention I have only personally read A Brief History of Time, and that many years ago, so I can't vouch for it being entirely kid friendly. Dh doesn't look at books with that in mind, and he isn't home for me to ask right now anyway. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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