My three year old loves the moon. He has to point it out everyday, say goodnight to it, and is sad when there is a new moon. One thing my mom did while she was homeschooling us was play into our interests to encourage learning and education. I’m trying to take the same approach with J and decided to teach him science based on the moon. He’s only three, so I tried to find preschool age-appropriate books. He wasn’t patient enough for all the books on this list, or every fact in the book – but I was pleasantly surprised with how much he soaked up this information! He now loves to point out the phases of the moon; I love the look on people’s faces when he says, “oh look, it’s a gibbous moon!”
1) The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons – This book is very science-based. It’s what I was looking for to introduce the moon concepts to my three-year-old. The text on each page is less than a paragraph so it’s short enough to hold a preschooler’s attention span, but it’s also filled with great information! The information itself is still a little beyond him, but it’s still good to introduce the concepts for now and opens the discussions to more than just “Let’s find the moon!” like we do every night before bed. It talks about the phases of the moon, how it rotates around the earth, its gravitational pull and impact on tides, and even some cultural history of Native Americans related to beliefs about the moon.
3) If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty and Steven Kellogg – This is a great book that has a storyline about traveling to the moon with science interspersed throughout the book. Toward the end of the book, it talks about differences between the moon and the earth – such as air, water and life – and how it’s important we protect that. I absolutely love Steven Kellogg as an illustrator and an author; I remember reading his books when I as a child!
4) I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay – This is a sweet story about a little boy who wishes to take the moon for a walk and the moon follows him the whole way. It’s not a science-based book, but we were looking for stories involving the moon as well. J loved this story!
5) Papa, Please get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle – A little girl asks her father to get the moon for her, so he climbs a tall ladder and asks the full moon if he will play with his daughter. The moon says he’ll get smaller and then he can come down, and through the phases of the moon he turns into a small crescent and comes down to play with the girl. Soon enough he’s a new moon and disappears entirely, but a few days later the little girl sees him back in the sky, each night growing bigger and bigger again. It’s a cute little tale on the phases of the moon and every little kid’s dream to hold and play with the moon.
6) The Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown – This book is a cultural revision of the classic prayer, “I see the moon and the Moon sees me. God bless the Moon and God bless me,” by rewriting some of the words and illustrating how the moon shines down no matter where you live in the world. It has a rhythmic poetic voice that makes it fun to read, and incorporates the perfect type of silly-humor that preschoolers love (God bless the toucan with her funny nose!).
7) The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley – The moon seems to change, but it really doesn’t – the book tells. It illustrates the science of the moon rotating the earth, the timeline of rotation, and the phases of the moon. It’s very science-based like the first book, but still short and easy to follow. It may be a little advanced for a young preschooler dependent on their interest level, but an older preschooler may enjoy it more.
8) What The Moon is Like by Franklyn M Branley – This book, though science-based like the others, is a little different because it focuses on the appearance and structure of the moon. It discusses craters and how they were formed, all the astronauts who’ve visited the moon and what part of the moon they explored, as well as a map of the moon with the names of the various “seas”. Although the book is long – 31 pages – it is so interesting with captivating illustrations. It provides a great contrast of the moon and the earth and at the end directions on how to make your own moon crater, and some online resources for kids to explore.
honeydew / 7504 posts
I wanted to get the Eric Carle book and matching Gymboree pjs for D for his birthday, but waited too long and couldn’t find the pjs.
Another moon book we love (in fact, I recently had to hide it because D wanted to read it all.the.time.) is Happy Birthday, Moon. Not scientific at all, but it’s cute.