Simon, Seymour. Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space Telescope. Destination: Space. Harper Collins, 2002.

Seymour Simon, acclaimed author of more than 200 science books for children does not disappoint with his recent book about the universe. The title is Destination: Space, presumably because the one word “space” best fit the format of his destination series, and follows the tradition of the short and to-the-point titles of most of his books. A more accurate title would include the topic of the book, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Even though it is not indicated on the cover, the readers and listeners know from the first page that space is the destination of both the HST and those who see and appreciate the incredible photographs taken by it.

The term “space” can be overwhelming, but Simon successfully scales down the subject. He masterfully navigated the daunting task of choosing just thirteen photographs taken since HST began orbiting the Earth in 1990. Destination: Space focuses on new and exciting discoveries so there is not an overload of too much information. The book does not progress in scope, rather each double-page spread is independent from the others. The advantage of this is that a child interested in Saturn can skip directly to the page with an astounding photograph and description of new information about the planet without needing the text of previous pages to understand it.

The book's format is familiar to Simon's audience with concise writing in large typeface adjoining full page photographs from the HST. His writing beautifully complements and explains the photographs with appropriate vocabulary that does not overwhelm the text. It's style is consistent with about the same amount of text for each double-page spread and there are no sudden departures from the length of paragraphs on each page.

This is not a textbook; unfamiliar words are not italicized and there is no glossary or index in the back. While some adults may find this to be a negative aspect, it works well in capturing the wonder and curiosity of children. The format of this book does not alienate his audience because Simon avoids a dry textbook style. It is possible for children to use this book as a starting point in narrowing down ideas to research, but the focus of the book celebrates the pure enjoyment of the information it contains. Children who have difficulty in science classes at school and those who simply want a break from typical school books are embraced by the pages of discovery within the book.

Another criticism may be that there is too much text for a book said to be for ages five and up on the book jacket. Yet, it is the photographs, not the text, that clearly dominate the book. The text is there to explain and support the photographs for those who want to read and listen to it. Some children may choose to use this as a picture book, ignoring the text completely, or looking at the photographs independently after or before having it read to them or reading it to someone.

A majority of the full-page color photographs taken by the HST appear to be intricate illustrations, even upon closer looks. A photograph of nebula columns looks like an illustrated cover to a fantasy novel with the billowy clouds of yellow against the turquoise background. The full page photograph of a “butterfly” nebula could be mistaken for a pastel drawing, jumping off of the black background. Even a jaded adult would have difficulty flipping through this book without pausing in wonder at a picture of a black hole, seeing proof of something once thought to be only a theory before the HST's photographs.

While Simon uses appropriate terminology he also introduces abstract concepts in poetic descriptions familiar to children. His use of common images lead to an ease in clarity. For instance, a photograph of two galaxies colliding is described as a “bird's head, leaning over to snatch a tasty meal of insects.” With this image in place children are able to easily look for specific details of both galaxies by looking for the bird's “feathers” and “beak.” Another collision of two galaxies is appropriately called a “fireworks show.” The New York City skyline is compared to the awesome sight of a star cluster fifteen thousand light-years away, allowing Simon's audience to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the stars.

His use of everyday comparisons helps in understanding the complexity of distance and time. Five million years in a medium-sized star‘s life, such as our Sun, is explained to be equal to “a few seconds in a baby‘s life.” The audience can feel the heat of the sun as they imagine Simon's description of a supernova having as much energy in one day as our sun does in one million years. It is an amazing feat to describe such abstract concepts in a way that it understandable without being condescending.

The text is timely and contains the latest research up to it's publication in 2002, but the HST has made many exciting discoveries since the publication of this book The book includes three photographs of Mars which Simon describes as “the sharpest global views of the planet ever taken” from 1997. However, a year after the book's publication, in August 2003, Mars was the closer to Earth than it has been in over 60,000 years. It is surprising that this book would include photographs taken of Mars in 1997 instead of waiting one more year for even closer views. Most likely, this is because the newest images will be explored in Simon's Destination: Mars is coming out next year. Hopefully, Simon will have a new book based on even more discoveries from the HST when it is retrieved in 2010.

Simon's honesty of what remains unknown in the universe with phrases such as “for an unknown reason” and “No one knows what new and startling news is still to come from space” do not detract from the quality of information provided. Rather, this emphasizes the accuracy of the text in admitting that this book is not the final explanation of discoveries made by the HST. More importantly, Simon's inclusion of the unknown and the questions that still need to be answered is an inspiration to future astronomers. A discussion about a photograph of a supergiant star, Eta Carine, raises questions about why it exploded in an unusual manner. Learning that scientists look for clues in photographs such as this remind readers and listeners that adults do not know all the answers and that the study of the universe is continually evolving. Through Destination: Space curious children realize that there is a lot to learn about our universe and that they, too, can be answering questions about space and contributing to the study of the universe through their own discoveries.

© Marissa Goodell (MLIS Student UIUC) 2003.