Your Place in the Universe

The wonderfully talented picture-book author and artist Jason Chin, who was awarded a Caldecott Honor for his Grand Canyon, examines comparative size and distance, and the human place in the universe in this informative new title. Using the average eight-year-old human child as a starting point - 50 inches/127 centimeters - he begins a series of comparisons - child to ostrich, ostrich to giraffe, and so on - that utilize creatures and objects of ever greater size. From creature to mountain, mountain to planet, planet to solar system, solar system to galaxy, galaxy to galaxy group, galaxy group to cosmic web, cosmic web to universe - the journey expands almost beyond the power of the human mind to imagine, before returning to those small show more children, and to the young reader, all now situated in the vastness of the cosmos. The book closes with an informational afterword covering the science behind the journey explored in the main narrative, as well as an author's note, and list of further sources...

Your Place in the Universe is the ninth book I have read that featured Jason Chin's gorgeous artwork, and the sixth that he both wrote and illustrated. Given my great enjoyment of his previous works, I fully expected to love this one, and I was not disappointed. I appreciated the pairing of wonder-filled, informative narrative with lovely illustrations here, and think that this would make a wonderful introduction to ideas of size and scale, and to the subject of the vastness of space, for younger children. Some of my favorite books from Chin - Redwoods, Coral Reefs, Grand Canyon - pair fictional and non-fictional narratives in interesting ways, centering the child and the child's sense of wonder at the world. Although there is no real fictional narrative here, I do feel that Chin still centers the child (and his young readers), by starting and ending with eight-year-olds. More than simply an informational book about space, this is a title to make children wonder at the vastness of space, at their own smallness, and at the marvelous gift we all have been given, in this planet we call home. Highly recommended to all picture-book readers looking for titles addressing size and scale, and the majesty and wonder of the universe, and our place in it. show less

It can be hard to grapple with your place in the universe, both literally and metaphysically. Chin’s latest picture book helps children wrestle with the physical size of cosmos and perhaps helps them with metaphysical location along the way. Using the size of an average eight-year-old (50 inches or 127 centimeters, if you are curious) as a starting point, the book moves from ostrich (two eight-year-olds) to giraffe (four eight-year-olds), to trees, buildings, mountains, and into space. Using well-labeled diagrams, the book explores the solar system, the galaxy, and eventually the universe. Just as the book risks going too abstract with the universe, it returns the original eight-year-olds and their telescope, discussing what we know show more about Earth, stating that “It’s the only planet we know of with kids who can look up and imagine…their place in the universe.” An excellent book for budding astronomers, or for those who might be. show less

Your Place in the Universe is a beautiful informational picture book written by award-winning author and illustrator Jason Chin. The book introduces children to scientific and mathematical concepts like relative size and space, opening the text with the comparison that the average 8-year-old is about 5 times as tall as the book, but only half as tall as a giraffe, or less than a quarter the size of a giraffe. As the book continues, its subjects increase in relative dimension, all the way out to the solar system, the galaxy, and the universe, before bringing it all back down to the child's perspective.

"These kids are eight years old. They are about five times as tall as this book, but only half as tall as this ostrich." The comparisons continue all the way out to the edge of the observable universe, "the region of space that we can see...from where we are," which brings us back to the original four eight-year-olds and their telescope.

See also: If Pluto Was A Pea by Gabrielle Prendergast; Flotsam by David Wiesner

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Re-read December 2020

I believe that Jason Chin has another award winner on his hands. Yes, I will not be shocked to see this on Sibert lists that come out later this month.

This book teaches sizing and scale using objects in nature that kids will relate to. Like the size of them is equal to 5 books.....but smaller than an ostrich....which is smaller than a redwood tree....you get the idea. There are so many facts scattered amongst the pages, there is something new to discover with each read.

Books that make STEM concepts approachable appeal to me on a fundamental level. I just need to remember that within the bowels on the dewey decimal system there are good books to use....even in storytimes ;)

This picture book steps from the scale of kids looking through a telescope up through giraffes and buildings to the solar system and eventually the entire universe, stating the sizes and some other awe-inspiring facts about the grandness of space. It is beautifully illustrated. The text is a little dry, list after list of numbers and facts; but they are very large and impressive facts.

PreS-Gr 4—This wondrously illustrated guide explores the size of the universe and our place in it. Using the height
and location of an eight-year-old child looking at the night sky as a gauge, Chin creates a cosmic nesting doll. Size and distance throughout the universe are compared, and the text incorporates basic astronomical information.