With the calming atmosphere of a goodnight read, young star gazers are invited to explore the night sky and learn more about the universe around them.

This is a medium-sized board book, which means its sturdier than a picture book and will handle a bit of mistreatment. The illustrations follow a young boy and his mother as they watch the setting sun before getting ready for bedtime. The poetic text opens up questions surrounding Earth and the other planets, while a more informative box in the corner of each two-page spread offers the basic facts and explanations.

While board books tend to head for the youngest readers, the information offered in this one slides toward the 4 to 7 age group, and does a wonderful job at hitting basic science in an inviting manner. The text is written in a calming, poetic flow, while presenting basic questions such as why the Earth spins although we stand still or why planets have different colors. The answers to these are placed in a text block at the bottom of the right-hand page. These are a little more in-depth than the younger end of the age group might completely understand (adult readers can easily help out), but the upper end will be have no problem with it, since these don't go too deep, either.

The illustrations are well done and add a lovely balance between the home scenes and the planets in space. Each one is enjoyable to gaze at and offers a nice foundation for the knowledge to settle in.

I do recommend this one to young space fans ages 4 and up. ( )