Other Worlds A Beginners Guide to Planets and Moons by Dickinson, Terence

Paperback in Very Good condition.  Exploring the Night Sky is aimed at novice star gazers anxious to expand their astronomical repertoire beyond the Big and Little Dippers. Dickinson has designed a superb introduction to astronomy that is clear, concise, beautifully illustrated, and very "user friendly" no matter what the child's age.   School Library Journal Gr 4-6 ``If starships are ever developed, there will be no shortage of destinations.'' With clarity and enthusiasm, Dickinson presents a look at the high frontier, combining a ``universe in 40 jumps'' sort of tourtaking readers from the Moon (1.3 light-seconds) to the galactic field in general (300 million light-years)with a quick spin about the solar system, adding season-by-season charts of the salient planets, stars, and constellations visible from North America. Dozens of color paintings and some photographs accompany the text, and there is a page of advice on choosing and using binoculars and telescopes. The information is readily available elsewhere, but not so engagingly presented. Thus this is a good additional purchase for heavily-used astronomy collections. John Peters, New York Public Library