The Book:
JUST RIGHT: SEARCHING FOR THE GOLDILOCKS PLANET
Author/Illustrator: Curtis Manley, illustrations by Jessica Lanan
Publication Info.: Roaring Brook Press, 2019
Ages/Grades: ages 5-9
Category: expository nonfiction, descriptive text structure, first-person POV
Overview (from the publisher):
“Do you wonder
if humans
are the only beings who wonder
if they are alone
in the universe?
Our sun is a star.
In the night sky are all kinds of stars,
and orbiting those stars
are planets like the ones in our own solar system.
Could those planets have life
like we do on Earth?
Planet Earth is not too big,
not too small, not too hot,
and not too cold. It’s just right.
Our very own Goldilocks planet . . . .
Follow a young girl
as she explores these questions
in this gorgeous book about the wondrous search
for another Goldilocks planet.”
What’s noteworthy for authors and educators:
Do you know how difficult it is to explain the techniques we use to search for exoplanets? Curtis Manley’s use of analogy makes JUST RIGHT accessible for young readers, as he talks about planets “winking” and “waving” and what that means to planet hunters. Takeaway: When trying to describe difficult concepts, why not try analogy?
Kirsten W. Larson 