Out of this World

Out of this World was written by Any Sklansky. Amy Sklansky’s love for writing started at a young age. She was an editor before she was a writer. She has written poetry, board books, fiction picture books and nonfiction picture books.

                This book is about space. Space ships travel really fast and very far. Before space travel astronauts prepare for the trip. Astronauts have to wear special space suits that protect them from the environment of space. Different famous space travelers packed items that were important to them. The moon gets it light from the reflection of the sun. The moon’s surface is made up of rock particles. Past astronauts have left footprints on the moon. The first satellite was launched in the 1950s. Each planet has a different environment. People have grouped stars together to make constellations. Our solar system is full of planets, starts, the sun, and many moons.

                Out of this World is a book of poetry. There are different poems written for different facts about space. This poetry book is nonfiction because it has so many accurate facts about space throughout the story. Each poem is structured differently. They all have a different number of lines and different stanzas. Poets can use different poetic devices to discuss subjects in different ways. According to Galda, word choice, arrangement, and poetic devices all come together to create a poem.

                I really enjoyed reading this book because every poem was different. I believe that this keeps children interested in poetry. The book was also interesting because it was full of facts. I liked reading the facts then reading the poems about the facts. I feel that this enhanced the poems greatly. The illustrations by Stacey Schuette are amazing. The space scenes look like photographs because they look so realistic. She uses a combination of digital art and paintings. The vivid colors are great for the use of stars and planets.

Discussion Questions:
·         What planet would you like to visit?
·         What are the five layers of the atmosphere?
·         What are names of famous astronauts?
·         What is gravity?
·         What kinds of elements do the space suit protect astronauts from?
·         What would you take with you?
·         How are the planets different?

Activities:
·         For poetry lesson, allow students to choose a fact out of the book and have them write their own poem based on the fact. Build onto this by displaying all of the poems and reading them together.
·         For science lesson, have students label the different planets and have them label the different moons.

Other books by this author:
·         Where Do Chicks Come From?
·         You Are my Lille Pumpkin Pie
·         You Are My Little Cupcake
·         My Daddy and Me
·         From the Doghouse
·         Skeleton Bones & Goblin Groans

Reference:

Sklansky, A.E., (2012). Out of this world: Poems and facts about space. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.