Questions and Answers: Earth & Space

by Anita Ganeri, John Malam, Clare Oliver

Earth and Space is a fascinating question and answer book about our planet and what lies beyond. Find out about our world and the amazing worlds in space, from prehistoric life to the search for alien life, from violent tornadoes to giant storms on Jupiter. There are quiz questions galore, and amazing facts to astound you. Have you ever wondered where space begins or when life on earth began? Who were the very first humans? What makes thunder rumble? Which robot explored Mars?

In this book, curious young readers can learn the answers to these questions and many more.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Anita Ganeri is a highly experienced author of children’s information books, specialising in religion, India/Asia, multiculturalism, geography, biography and natural history. She became a freelance writer after working at Walker Books (as foreign rights manager) and Usborne Publishing (as an editor). Since then, she has written over 300 titles, including the best-selling Horrible Geography series for Scholastic. The series won the Geographical Association Silver Award in 1999 and was cited as being ‘an innovation that all geographers will applaud’. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society where she conducts most of her research for the books.

Reviews

[ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Earth and Space' is one of the first books I ever read. I can't remember the circumstances of how the book came in my possession. All I can recall is reading it with fervour for months, engrossed by all the information given about our planet and how it came to exist.

'Earth and Space' is split in seven chapters, the first three describing the Universe while the last four chapters describe the history of Earth. The final chapter regards climate change, a suitable final chapter and a topic I think every person should learn about, especially children. Each chapter is explained with such detail and yet remains simple enough for a child to grasp at the concepts with imagery. Though some of the information is outdated as it was written in 2003 (for example, Pluto is described as a planet).

Tangentially speaking, a feeling or sensation that often occurs to me when reading something is the feeling of immersing yourself in a fictional world, lost in all its intricacies. So much so that it is almost jarring to return to 'the real world', a reminder that fiction is merely an encapsulated subset of this experience we call life. I remember this book being a stark contrast to all the things I had read before, as it had actually described the world around me, not just some imagination. It was a crucial moment that to jump-started my curiosity by getting me to start asking fundamental questions: Who are we? Where are we? How did we get here? I thank my parents for allowing me to read this book as the young naive child I was, for it was the start of a lifelong journey towards the pursuit of knowledge.

[Noelle Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a quick reading experience. It will be a good idea to look up the data to see what has changed since this book was published to see what has been updated and what new info has been learned. the artwork is beautiful and really helps bring the info to life. Great for young children

[David Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good nonfiction book to read to my son. There were some quick concepts I chose to skip over for now, but the content and overall presentation was solid and led to some great questions on his part.

[Barbara C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth & Space. By Anita Ganeri, et al. Parragon Publishing, 2004. 256 pages.

Genre: Nonfiction
Recommended age level: Intermediate (8-12 years)
Series information: Questions and Answers
Subjects: the solar system, space exploration, the Universe, stars, Earth, prehistoric life on Earth, exploring Earth, natural disasters

This information book for children focuses on our planet and what lies beyond. Using a simple question and answer format, young readers will discover amazing facts about Earth, our solar system, and the Universe.

Though its large size may intimidate readers at first glance, this book's colourful pages, detailed illustrations and diagrams, and entertaining cartoons will have all but the most reluctant reader hooked in no time. From basic questions like, "What is the Solar System?" to the more exciting "Do aliens know about us?" children will be enthralled with the information crammed between the covers.

I was very impressed with the depth of topics and quality of information in this book. There are plenty of quick amazing facts to astound and interest the passing reader, but it is also brimming with hard data for the serious Earth and space enthusiast. The glossary and detailed index are welcome additions to such a large book.

[DeeDee Merrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is beautifully illustrated and full of easy to read, easy to find information. It answers many, many questions about the earth, sun, and solar system as well as different ways humans have learned to study these things. The earth also explains several things about the earth besides it's creation such as weather, and life on it. I would recommend this book to anyone!

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, another book on the fact card table. Children find one or two facts about the book, then prepare for citing sources as they copy the title, author, and page number of where they got their information. 3-5

I like how the author shows the relationship of Earth and Space.

[Sophia Roselle]

I love this nonfiction book because it contains incredible and realistic images for students to observe and learn from, and really brings outer space to life. I would include this in a classroom library for students to pick through.