Call number
J 523.8 MIT
Collection
Genres
Publication
National Geographic Children's Books (2004), 32 pages
Description
Presents facts about stars, nebulas, galaxies, and constellations and recounts the Greek myths that provided widely-known names for ten constellations, from Andromeda to Pegasus.
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member isaacfellows
The glittering stars are attractive and the paintings have a folksy beauty, but the book as a whole feels a little thin and rushed to me. Nevertheless, for a young library patron exploring the stars, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
British physicist Jacqueline Mitton and illustrator Christina Balit team up in this third picture-book about the heavens, following upon their Zoo In the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations and Kingdom of the Sun: A Book of the Planets. Here they profile thirteen lesser-known constellations
Much like Zoo in the Sky, I found Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations to be an engaging book, one which explores a fascinating topic, and which contains absolutely beautiful illustrations. I have long been an admirer of Balit's work, and am glad to have finally tracked down this follow-up to Zoo in the Sky, which I read when it first came out in the 1990s, and then recently reread. I do wish that more details had been given, when it comes to the mythological stories being presented, but I appreciated the blending of scientific and mythological education here. This probably would have been a three-star title for me, but Balit's beautiful artwork, with its vibrant colors, appealingly stylized figures, and use of foil stars, was so enjoyable that I raised my rating. Recommended to young sky watchers and star lovers.
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(fifteen, if one considers the three constituent elements of Argo), pairing a brief synopsis of the Greek mythological story behind each constellation name, with gorgeous illustrations of the mythological figures in question. An afterword gives more information about the various constellations, while the decorative endpapers show the northern and southern skies...Much like Zoo in the Sky, I found Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations to be an engaging book, one which explores a fascinating topic, and which contains absolutely beautiful illustrations. I have long been an admirer of Balit's work, and am glad to have finally tracked down this follow-up to Zoo in the Sky, which I read when it first came out in the 1990s, and then recently reread. I do wish that more details had been given, when it comes to the mythological stories being presented, but I appreciated the blending of scientific and mythological education here. This probably would have been a three-star title for me, but Balit's beautiful artwork, with its vibrant colors, appealingly stylized figures, and use of foil stars, was so enjoyable that I raised my rating. Recommended to young sky watchers and star lovers.
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ISBN
0792263324 / 9780792263326