The Solar System Through Infographics by Nadia Higgins

The Solar System Through Infographics Reviews

• 
  Mel

  I use this book with a student I tutor. We will usually start a topic with an appropriate infographic. They help create some strong discussions and help her better understand the reading passages later in the session.
• 
  Kibeth the Walker

  Fun!
• 
  Alyssa

  Read: August 2013
  Where It Came From: ARC from Publisher via NetGalley*
  Genre: Kid's Non-fiction
  Rating: 4 Champagne Supernovas
  
  What’s Shakin’, Bacon?
  I requested this from the publisher on a whim because I. Love. Infographics. What is an infographic, you say? It’s a way of depicting information (be it statistics, facts, concepts, survey results, what have you) through a visual medium that helps it all make sense, often involving flowcharts, graphs, illustrations, and things like that. It’s info conveyed using graphics—info, graphic, INFOGRAPHIC! Makes sense, yes? Here, I will show you:
  
  
  
  I did not make this infographic; it came from Goodreads. I wish I had the mad skillz to make infographics like this (or at all).
  
  If you find this sort of thing as intriguing as I do, you can find a few more lurking on one of our
  Pinterest boards. But on with the show! I thought a whole book of infographics sounded great, and this one did not disappoint. It covers all sorts of outer space-y topics, from the big bang theory (the actual theory, not the show), to black holes, to the different kinds of stars, and on and on. It’s meant for kids, but I think the format, humorous tone, and interesting info make it a book that’s fun for all ages. The straightforward, easy-to-comprehend explanations of some admittedly esoteric topics helped me learn all kinds of things I never knew before, and the engaging graphics and fun, informal voice kept me turning pages and thinking, “Oh, just one more infographic…” until the book was done.
  
  Atoms take up only 3% of the universe, and the rest is all dark matter and dark energy?! Who knew! A chart with how much a dog would weigh on each of the planets, taking into account the different gravities? Awesome! An equation for measuring the possibility of intelligent life in our galaxy? Why didn’t I know about this before?! My absolute favorite, though, was the infographic explaining what would happen if one were to fall in a black hole. Remind me never to do that.
  
  The info doesn’t go too deep, but I wouldn’t expect it to—this is an introduce-and-intrigue-type book, not a textbook. Rather, when a reader’s interest in a certain topic is piqued, it serves as a springboard for going off to the interwebs or the library in search of more information. It inspired lots of questions and discussion as we perused the pages and pondered theoretical astrophysics (and we are not often astrophysically inclined!). I thought it was a great book and the perfect format for opening up readers’ eyes to the wonder of the cosmos and the amazing science of studying it.
  
  I especially like that near the end of the book it becomes interactive, with a guide to some interesting things beyond the usual constellations that readers can find in the night sky. It also has a “Further Information” section with a listing of books and websites, each accompanied by a mini description, for further investigation of topics introduced in the book. Best treasure found therein:
  This website is purported to have archived episodes of “Consider the Following” with Bill Nye, the Science Guy. BILL NYE!!!
  
  I would’ve absolutely loved this book as a kid. Who am I kidding—I pretty much love it now! This would be great for school libraries and teachers’ classroom libraries, in addition to the personal libraries of children and their families. I’m confident that anyone at all curious about the universe (and multiverse! I about died of happiness when the book mentioned the concept) could find something to enjoy here, and I’d be happy to have a physical copy of it on my own shelf.
  
  *As ever, much as we are grateful for the copy, our review is uninfluenced by its source.
  
  Originally posted on
  Read This / Eat That
  
• 
  Jason Keisling

  As a designer, I was interested in checking out some infographics for inspiration. I also have a strong interest in astronomy so this one seemed like a great choice. I'd say this is more of a picture book than an infographic though. While there are some parts that have data visually represented, most of it is a block of text and an illustrated image of the subject it's describing. For example, in the section explaining distances from earth, it simply lists different stars and planets and the amount of lightyears/mins away. That's fine, but that was kind of disappointing to me since I was looking for some creative data representation. Instead of simply listing distances, a visual representation could have been creative to actually show the scale and distances of our solar system. Granted, this would be quite a challenge since there is much more distance between planets than people are aware. As Bill Bryson stated in "A Short History of Nearly Everything":
  
  "Most schoolroom charts show the planets coming one after the other at neighborly intervals—the outer giants actually cast shadows over each other in many illustrations—but this is a necessary deceit to get them all on the same piece of paper. Neptune in reality isn’t just a little bit beyond Jupiter, it’s way beyond Jupiter—five times farther from Jupiter than Jupiter is from us, so far out that it receives only 3 percent as much sunlight as Jupiter.
  
  Such are the distances, in fact, that it isn’t possible, in any practical terms, to draw the solar system to scale. Even if you added lots of fold-out pages to your textbooks or used a really long sheet of poster paper, you wouldn’t come close. On a diagram of the solar system to scale, with Earth reduced to about the diameter of a pea, Jupiter would be over a thousand feet away and Pluto would be a mile and a half distant (and about the size of a bacterium, so you wouldn’t be able to see it anyway)."
  
  But still...perhaps there's a way to visually represent how difficult it is to show the scale of the solar system? And there were certainly other parts of this book that would be easier to represent visually.
  
• 
  Sharon Tyler

  The Solar System Through Infographics by Nadia Higgins is a book that offers all sorts charts, timelines, graphs, and diagrams, about the solar system we live in. There is also a handy glossary of terms to help out readers that need more detailed explanations on particular terms. The amount of data about our solar system can make anyone's head spin. the numbers along can be hard to grasp simply because of the size and age of everything involved. Infographics can help put some of these huge numbers and concepts into perspective and bite size chunks that are easier for everyone to understand.
  
  Ever wonder what would happen if you were sucked into a black hole, or how long would it take a beam of light to cross the universe? Well, The The Solar System Through Infographics uses charts, maps, and illustrations to tell a visual story to help you better understand these things, and the details of our solar system. The information does not go incredibly deep, because that is not what infographics are for, but does inform and intrigue readers with any interest in space. The glossary, interactive aspects towards the end, and section about further information will be key tools for the most interested readers.
  
  I would recommend The Solar System Through Infographics for classroom and library collections,. this is a great tool for inspiring interest and discussions about space and astrophysics. It is a great starting point for the most dedicated of space enthusiasts and can inspire questions and further investigation.
• 
  Tintaglia

  Premettendo che tutte le mie inclinazioni sono verso le materie storiche e letterarie, sono una fervente sostenitrice della necessità e dell'opportunità di buoni libri di divulgazione sia in quelle materie che in quelle scientifiche: pochi concetti, espressi rigorosamente ma con chiarezza e spirito, e supportati da strumenti grafici, illustrazioni, fumetti, aneddoti possono fare molto per colmare una generale ignoranza dovuta, principalmente, alla mancanza di curiosità e all'idea che certe materie siano difficili o noiose.
  
  Esplorare il Sistema Solare con questo libro è stato invece un viaggio interessante e piacevole: grafici, numeri, illustrazioni contribuiscono a dare un'idea di numeri (distanze e tempi) colossali, talmente grandi da essere (almeno per me) inconcepibili; e finalmente ho scoperto che fine fanno gli oggetto risucchiati da un buco nero. O.O
  
  Posso solo augurarmi da una parte che l'editore continui con questa iniziativa, dall'altra che questi libri arrivino presto in Italia, ad arricchire un'offerta già buona (penso alle ottime serie di Brutte storie e Brutte scienze ^^) ma troppo poco conosciuta. :)
  
• 
  S Farneth

  Infographics are an easy way to pick up tidbits of information; so easy in fact, that when put together all you’ve read, you’ve gather a great deal of information and knowledge. Such is the case in The Solar System Through Infographics.
  
  Presented in clipped bits and pieces of information along with charts, graphics, pictures and data, the solar system is explained in terms that are relative: “The sun was a bucket. You could dump one million Earths inside it.” Information presented includes how the universe began shown in timeline fashion, piecing the big bang theory together through a series of ideas from astronomers, explaining black holes beginning with a supernova and asteroids, comets, meteoroids and other small universe dwellers.
  
  This is not book for the newcomer. The Solar System Through Infographics takes a little background knowledge before you embark on the book. There is a glossary in the back for those terms that are troubling but it is a book of fun facts that provides information to those who already have an interest and want to learn more or just page through interesting ideas.
  
• 
  Suzanne

  With all sorts of charts, timelines, graphs, and diagrams, this book shares tons of facts about the solar system we live in. A handy glossary of terms is included along with a list of other resources for further information. There are pages about the big bang theory (not the TV show), planets, stars, meteors and other space objects. Facts are presented in ways that make them easier to visualize. For example, "Imagine the sun was a bucket. You could dump one million Earths inside it." The timeline of famous space theorists includes photos of the scientists and tells their "Big Idea" about space. My favorite part was the graph showing how much your dog would weigh on each planet. If the dog weighs 100 pounds on Earth, he or she would weigh 253 pounds on Jupiter. So if you are trying to lose weight, you could move to Mars and the scales would say you weigh less than half of what you weigh here at home (all because of the planet's gravity). This is a fun and educational book for anyone interested in space.
  
  I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGaelly.
• 
  Destiny Dawn Long

  Full review is available at my blog:
  
  http://destinydawnlong.wordpress.com/...
  
  Excerpt:
  
  What I love most is the overall design. Before I had even gotten past the front matter I was thinking “this is a cool book!” It’s hip and on-trend. Rather than presenting information linearly, the book is set up so that you can jump around. Information appears in small chunks that can be easily digested before young minds get distracted. By using multiple typefaces, readers can distinguish different types of information on the page, as well. At the end, the book includes a glossary, index, and suggestions for further information (books and websites)–making it not just pretty, but also functional.
• 
  Sarah Maddaford

  This book does a pretty good job of illustrating the solar system (the universe really) through visual data (infographics). My only real complaints are that it was too short and that there weren't enough pictures of real astronomical phenomena versus graphics.
  This would be a fairly good starting point for science collections looking to get a basic astronomy book, but it definitely shouldn't be the only one simply because of length limiting the amount of content explored. The content showed is simplified without being over simplified or inaccurate (to my knowledge).
• 
  Kellee Moye

  A plethora of information!!!
  The Solar System is something that all children are fascinated with (and many adults are as well) and this book includes so much information and the information in fun infographics that help the reader understand some really complicated scientific information.
  I recommend this to all teachers to have in their classroom - it will be loved.
  
  (I will say, that I am going to probably buy this book and this may change my ratings. It was very hard to read as an e-galley because the inforgraphics were split up. If I see it as a book, it may help me like it more.)
• 
  Nanci Booher

  I received this as an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you). I loved the illustrations and I actually learned some things from it. That being said, I did read this with my "k-6 librarian" hat on. I would recommend it to my older kids to use as long as they had other resources. I feel like some of the defintions fell flat and assumed that you knew everything up to that point. I liked the layout and felt like it did a good job overall.
• 
  Soup

  ARC from NetGalley.
  
  Clever, colorful, and quality children's reference book about the Solar System. The use of infographics is effective, timely (even trendy), and well suited to both the content and the audience. Sentences are short, the tone is humorous, and both the vocabulary and science presented is solid. A very solid book suitable for home or library collections.
• 
  Sarah Sammis

  
  http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/...
• 
  Terryann

  a good, basic read for 2-4 graders with lots of great pictures and information.
• 
  Amanda

  Best of 2014.
• 
  Fenix Rose

  A great little book about the basics.
  Well illustrated.
  Yet not dumbed down either, made too simple.
  Just a perfect little synopsis of the basics in a fun package.
• 
  Jen

  well designed book of science facts.
• 
  Kara

  
  The book deals with Big Ideas – and I mean BIG – introducing the science of the universe’s evolution to an elementary school age reader.
• 
  Tera

  Very colorful and informative. Science readers will be sure to love.