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A Black Hole Is Not a Hole
by
Get ready to S-T-R-E-T-C-H your mind!
What is a black hole? Where do they come from? How were they discovered? Can we visit one? Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano takes readers on a ride through the galaxies (ours, and others), answering these questions and many more about the phenomenon known as a black hole.
In lively and often humorous text, the book starts off with a thorough ...more
What is a black hole? Where do they come from? How were they discovered? Can we visit one? Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano takes readers on a ride through the galaxies (ours, and others), answering these questions and many more about the phenomenon known as a black hole.
In lively and often humorous text, the book starts off with a thorough ...more
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It's not the only -- or even the primary -- criterion that I use when evaluating children's books, but I get a special thrill when I see a book and think "You know, I would really have enjoyed this book as a child." A Black Hole Is Not a Hole gave me that feeling, reminding me of the first time I picked up Our Universe or The Cartoon Guide to Physics, a pair of books that loom large in my memories of growing up.
Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano's book does an excellent job of taking a difficult conce ...more
Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano's book does an excellent job of taking a difficult conce ...more
Children's nonfiction book about black holes and stars. Text is very informative. Illustrations provide strong support for the concepts presented. Includes a black hole timeline, glossary, and bibliography. Good for both classroom use and independent reading. Also an excellent resource for school reports.
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If you like black holes than you'd like this book. They were discovered in a pretty crazy way. If you want to find out how, read the book! It's pretty short and easy to read.
Indy age 10 ...more
Indy age 10 ...more
May 20, 2019
Dolly
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of nonfiction
This is a short and engaging audiobook that explains the science of black holes and other aspects of the stars in our universe.
The authors use plain terminology and clear comparisons in our own world to explain the very complicated concepts. And yet, they do not 'dumb down' the science.
I can't say that I truly understand black holes any more than I did before, but I have a better grasp on the general idea. ...more
The authors use plain terminology and clear comparisons in our own world to explain the very complicated concepts. And yet, they do not 'dumb down' the science.
I can't say that I truly understand black holes any more than I did before, but I have a better grasp on the general idea. ...more
A Black Hole is Not a Hole is an informational text explaining what a black hole is. The author’s writing style is engaging—the title, A Black Hole is Not a Hole, is interesting and causes the reader to question it. There is also a speech bubble on the cover that asks, “Then what is it?” and another speech bubble on the title page that asks, “Are you sure about that?” There are other speech bubbles found throughout the text that add humor and interest to the topic.
This is an abstract and difficu ...more
This is an abstract and difficu ...more
How many books about scientific concepts are funny and fun to read? Not too many, methinks. Carolyn Decristofano explains black holes via excellent analogies (a singularity is like a peanut with the mass of a trillion elephants!), thought experiments (imagine you approach the event horizon of a black hole and your foot stretches in front on you like a spaghetti noodle!), and great flow from one topic to the next (start with Newtonian gravity--that's pretty easy to get--and wait until the end to
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Gosh! I wish this book had been available when I was young or even when I was taking a couple of astronomy classes in college and first became interested in black holes. In engaging text and illustrations created through acrylics and Adobe Photoshop, the book uses eight chapters to introduce the rather complicated idea of black holes, which are not actually holes. Comparing a black hole to a whirlpool but without the water is a wonderfully effective and vivid way to explain one. I also liked how
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A Black Hole is Not a Hole is a very detailed and informative book about “what in the universe” a black hole really is. The text is arranged around central ideas about black holes using kid-friendly metaphors to develop an understanding of what black holes are really like. The text balances paragraphs of information, colorful diagrams and metaphoric illustrations to capture the complexity of black holes in an accessible way.
To illustrate the complexity of black holes the author investigates imp ...more
To illustrate the complexity of black holes the author investigates imp ...more
A conversational and humorous tone makes this book not only educational but appealing to read. Carolyn DeCristofano breaks down an overwhelming subject into easy-to-digest pieces and explains what black holes are, how they form, and how we discovered them. Extensive back matter includes an AWESOME author's note that tells how she researched the book and emphasizes the fact that ongoing scientific research means that science facts change often.
Highly recommended for young scientists! Pair it wit ...more
Highly recommended for young scientists! Pair it wit ...more
Did I just read, learn, and understand Einstein's theory of relativity from a children's book? Why yes, yes I did. Why can't college textbooks be like this? I may have been a physics major if learning had been this much fun.
FYI for parents out there concerned about the new Common Core Standards increased requirements for nonfiction in the classroom? If this book is any indication - kids are probably in for a treat.
(age range 10ish give or take, but obvs good for adults, too) ...more
FYI for parents out there concerned about the new Common Core Standards increased requirements for nonfiction in the classroom? If this book is any indication - kids are probably in for a treat.
(age range 10ish give or take, but obvs good for adults, too) ...more
An excellent presentation and explanation of a complicated subject. Coversational, entertaining and informative with great illustrations.
This was a well explained nonfiction book about the physics and astronomy of black holes. Understanding gravity is vital to learning about black holes, so the book focuses on gravity and how its force holds the solar system together because of the sun’s gravitational pull. It explains that gravity’s pull is affected by distance and mass of the objects involved. A black hole is a massive amount of mass that is packed densely and is the source of the immense gravitational pull. The accuracy of the
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This is an amazing children’s book that discusses the mysterious objects, called black holes. The book explains that black holes are “not something you can dig in the group or poke your finger through.” The book then describes what exactly a back hole is. The first chapter assures young readers that a black hole is no threat to the Earth or our Solar system by discussing the issue of distance in space.
A black hole is being described by comparing it to something more familiar with young minds, f ...more
A black hole is being described by comparing it to something more familiar with young minds, f ...more
If you or you kid likes black holes, or science, or space they will love this book. However, if they don't you shouldn't even try. The book itself is incredibly dense and has a great amount of information in it about black holes. It describes what they are, how they work, and what we as humans understand about them at this point. If your kid is interested in science I would definitely say you should pick this book up because it will foster that interest. However, if your kid isn't interested in
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This would definitely be a 4 star for a scientifically interested kid. I am in a reading program at my library that has books for different criteria. I read this for a " non-fiction title about something you are unfamiliar with". I figured a scientific subject with which I was unfamiliar would be best explained by a book for kids. I was correct! I now know more about black holes and know that the nearest one is too far away for worry. Of course, black holes still give me the same sort of strange
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If you're looking for an overview of black holes, this is a good place to look. I might have done better to read the physical book as there were a lot of numbers that we're difficult for me to visualize with the audio. Something I could visualize just fine but wish I couldn't: spaghettification. *shudder* Something cool: the center of the Milky Way appears to be a black hole in the constellation Sagittarius, my Zodiac sign. The book also does a good job of highlighting the way that our assumptio
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My 6 year old is fascinated with black holes until she read this book. 😂 The more she read the more she got scared and didn't want to continue the book. She does not want Earth passing by a black hole and no longer wants to be a scientist. Her Looney Toon black hole version is ruined. On the bright side, the images were vivid and the description was clear. She now knows what a black hole is not.
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Okay, so this is definitely a kids book, didn't realize. But I think it can be beneficial for adults to read kids books on tricky subjects because it helps you become more comfortable with the basics. I have a variety of other books on black holes, and I think it is a good starting point to read this first as it goes over some of the essential concepts trying to make them as easy to understand as possible.
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This story is informational although it is actually humorous as well. I think this book would be engaging for students because it is comical while still providing educational benefits. The illustrations are very neat and informative. I liked this book a lot and I could it see getting students interested in astronomy and outer-space.
Very informative science book. Talks about a ray of space topics such as; black holes, gravity, stars, and much more and how they all intertwine. Pictures are both professional and cartoon but it fits well with the book. In the back in comes with a glossary, which is really helpful!
This was a cute, quick read. Definitely one that I would share with my nieces and nephews if it can pass the “astrophysicist uncle test”
For anyone interested in Space and black holes, this is the book to read! It's full of fabulous information and illustrations to educate and amaze.
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My three-year-old is obsessed with black holes and I cannot count how many times he made me read this book to him this year. Think I learned as much as he did.
Enjoyed this on audio.
Interestingly educational. Learned more about black holes than I thought I needed to know
This is a kids book, and I still had to slow it way down so I could understand 😅
A good intro for an older child or even an adult.
3.5- whew, this book is dense! It goes through the life cycle of a star, eventually ending with a black hole. Great book if your brain is up to the challenge! Today, mine was a little sleepy...
Richie’s Picks: A BLACK HOLE IS NOT A HOLE by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano and Michael Carroll, ill., Charlesbridge, February 2012, 80p., ISBN: 978-1-57091-783-7
“Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find”
-- Kilbey/Jansson, “Under the Milky Way”
“A black hole is nothing to look at. Literally. If you could somehow take a close-up picture of a black hole, it wouldn’t be one for the scrapbook. It would just be blank…and black.
“The blackness of black holes is peculiar: a ...more
“Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find”
-- Kilbey/Jansson, “Under the Milky Way”
“A black hole is nothing to look at. Literally. If you could somehow take a close-up picture of a black hole, it wouldn’t be one for the scrapbook. It would just be blank…and black.
“The blackness of black holes is peculiar: a ...more
I liked this book because black holes are mysterious anomalies in the sky. The author really captured many of the important things about black holes. Ever since I was a kid I have always been interested in black holes. People record all of this evidence and advice about black holes and I wonder how do they do it. All in all people still do not know the many secrets about black holes but most importantly where they lead to. I would recommend this to people who are into astronomy because space is
...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Future Teachers, ...: Book review.Dykstra | 1 | 2 | Nov 18, 2016 05:41PM | |
| using this one for book club... | 3 | 3 | Nov 02, 2012 10:32AM |
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