In the early part of the later section of August 2024 a book came out, but it was lost in the shuffle of the wonderful and crazy that is the book world. I became aware of it when I found an online reader copy of Clouds in Space: Nebulae, Stardust, and Us by Teresa Robeson. I decided lunch was dull enough, so let’s spice it up with the stars. This fairly quick reading picture book at first read did not grab me. It was more of a “okay, now what?” start. I then gave a second read.
Yes, Robeson’s book is not as easy as it seems, yet it is also a good introduction to the concepts of nebulas and space in general. It might be a bit poetic, bringing in how we are all made of the same things as all the pieces of Earth and Space, but that helps bring things into focus for the non-scientific minded reader/listener. It gives it a science and art focus. This combination of text that is artistic and facts is smoothed even more with the idea of a nebulae as a young doll-like-child-presenting character. They use language and examples that are familiar to most and therefore we can make the connections.
This is all laid out with the illustrations of Diana Renzina. In a familiar mixture of brighter colors, but not flashy, space is spread out for us. Each section has text that sometimes blends in with the images, but take your time, as the subject is not one to rush. The illustrations are a bit cartoon-like, but not silly cartoony. They are whimsical and have a squishy solidness to them (if a stress ball had a look you could feel).
I’m not jumping up and down and hollering it is the best book ever, but it is one that I enjoyed, plan on reading again and would give as a gift.