Older than The Stars

I bought this book for my daughter when she was 5 years old. It was one of pur favorites. It tells the story of how we're connected to the beginning of the universe, "older than the stars", in a rhyming story that's easy for young children to understand. More in-depth scientific facts, that would be better suited for older children, are also included throughout the book. The illustrations are captivating and well suited to the story. My daughter loved hearing it before bedtime and I loved reading it to her. It's been several years and the book has gone missing after we moved, but it was the first one I thought of when an aquaintence mentioned wanting books for her babyshower. Highly recommend this!

Karen Fox's book does a wonderful job of presenting a brief history of the universe, from Big Bang to the kid reading the book, with parallel textual tracks that provide just enough for younger readers and more science heft for older kids.Starting with the Big Bang, her evolving rhyme -- "This is the Bang" etc., kind of like "There once was a woman who swallowed a fly" -- goes through the creation of atoms, their diffusion through space in star formation and supernovae, and ultimately the formation of our sun and Earth and its inhabitants.With my five year old, just reading the rhyming part is enough. But on each page there is also a smaller more science-y text that older kids will find appealing, coupled with a glossary at the end and a timeline of the universe. The illustrations are beautiful and dynamic. I liked how the theme of stars was echoed in many of the drawings.All in all this is a very satisfying book that I look forward to my daughters turning to over the next few years and continuing to gain more as their reading and understanding match the book's universal story.

I bought this book because I loved the title, and delighted in the idea of sharing a theoretical model with my little one! Though it's true that the words are a bit confusing to parse at first, it's really just a momentary confusion—the split presentation of information is something that will grow with the child. Across the page spreads, there's singsong prose, sometimes venturing into visual poetry, to keep the young child entertained. And on those same page spreads are informational paragraphs, tucked into the corners, for the edification of the more advanced reader. I am not a huge fan of the way the author was illustrated, but it hasn't interfered with my child's enjoyment of the book.

Perfect for all ages. I wasn't sure about this at first because the illustrations are not scientifically accurate. My son didn't mind at all. He is captivated by the artwork and prose that truly captures the beauty of the real universe without the need for metaphysics. The main story is age appropriate and educational (he's 4), but the book also includes facts for older kids and adults. I learned quite a bit reading this book! I've purchased quite a few kids' books about evolution recently, and this is my favorite.

One of my son's favorite books! Great for inquestive little minds, brought up so many great questions to explore together further. We need more books of this caliber for our children!

We use several books together to begin a discussion of evolution and the formation of life and the Earth. My son was 3 or 4 when we started. He's 5 now and he kind of understands. We also go to museums and watch nature shows. It's a process. No one book is going to do the whole job for you.The one thing i don't love about this book is how many times the lines are repeated and it gets to be a long drawn out thing. Sometimes I just end up skipping a few lines.

Amazing book about the beginnings of our earth and Galaxy, told in a kid-friendly way. Similar to the way "the woman who swallowed a fly" builds a story one phrase at a time, this books builds to an understanding of how the Big Bang leads all the way to human's existence. It is so fun and children will get involved and read the repetitive parts along with you. My 2nd grader and her whole class loved this book. It prompted them to ask very insightful questions and paired well with their class work on planets.

I bought this for my 5 year old son. We both enjoyed the book and have read it several times so far. The words are cleaver and the pictures are abstract and colorful. However, I wish the illustrations were more related to the words. They are mostly a lot of squiggles and shapes. The only complaint that I have isn't really a complaint but more of a misunderstanding. My son and I were thinking the book would include more about evolution. It skips millions of year as far as that's concerned but it explains the big bang quite well. I will keep looking for a book about how humans came to be which was what my son was wanting. I do recommend this book to anyone trying to explain such a complicating theory to a child.

I got this for my four-year-old, who is starting to ask questions about death. I am an atheist who was raised Christian, so I suddenly found myself having to come up with my own stories to tell him, and I ran to the Internet for a bit of help. This book not only mirrors exactly what I had already told him - that we're made, as Sagan said, of star-stuff - but it does so with a lovely and lyrical poem in the vein of "the House that Jack Built".It begins with the "bang when the world began" and deftly spells out the bits becoming atoms, and stars forming from gas clouds, more atoms getting spit out from stars, those atoms forming our Sun and Earth, and then the beginnings of life all the way up to humans, and to the reader of the book. If that sounds complicated, the book makes it feel simple and poetic.The poem has a highly readable cadence - my son immediately begged for a second read-through after the first one, and few things keep his attention these days! The words on each page are part of the artwork, wrapping around stars and flying around with the atoms. And at each stage of the poem there is a small box with more in-depth text, for the parent's own reference and for when the child gets a bit older and wants to know more.It begins and ends with the assertion that you are older than the stars and the planets, as old as the universe. It's a beautiful way to talk about our place in the stars.

As my child is about to start RE lessons, I thought it was only right that we also started on the truth, so I bought this book. I love how the simple repeating story is backed up by facts and information that you can either read out or save for when they're older. With my three year old, we left that bit out, and concentrated on the rhyme. By the end he was talking along with it and enjoyed shouting out BANG.The pictures are lovely and really kept his attention. I'll work on the 5 year old this weekend.

Brilliant, my daughter aged six has so many questions, where do we come from, who made the world, how, what, when. This is a wonderful book that brings words to life, bright colours, poetry and repetition with bright simple text make it accessible to younger children to grasp such difficult concepts whilst each page has lovely facts and and plenty of information to answer all those burning questions my child has. I love the timeline at the end of the book too to help put it all into context.A refreshing book to have to share with my children along side the C of E teachings of their school.

I bought this for my 4 and 8 year old boys. My 4 year old was bored by it (as was I) and my 8 year old didn’t understand it as the terminology confused him. So I’ve returned and got a refund. Instead I have ordered the story of space by Catherine Barr which looks great from the photos. I already have her story of life book which has been amazing and helped them understand evolution.

I found this book very annoying. There are so many great books explaining space and evolution to children. This is not one of them. It felt like the text took a few minutes to write. My son loves space and stuff but we were both bored by this book and it's headed for the bin.