This easy reader is a first introduction to gravity. Told in the simplest of terms, it answers a child’s first questions about gravity. Arranged in three parts: Why Am I Stuck on the Ground?, Where Does Gravity Feel Different?, and Do All Objects Have Gravity?, the text is clear and simply illustrated. Each section shows children participating in everyday activities and then asking questions about gravity. I particularly like the illustrations when the book talks about everything having a gravitational pull. It shows two kids sitting next to each other with force lines coming off of them. And it explains how earth’s greater gravity over-rides our personal, much smaller gravity.
Which brings me to my biggest critique on the book – it’s not a graphic novel. It is a picture book. I suppose that’s not a problem, per say, so much as a problem for me on this site dedicated to reviewing graphic novels. It is not sequential art, it makes no use of even the most basic comic conventions (for example, speech in speech bubbles).
Besides that, it is a fine introduction to what can be a difficult question with a glossary and bibliography for further reading at the end.
How Do We Stay On Earth: A Gravity Mystery
by Amy Hansen
Art by Korey Scott
ISBN: 978-142966097
First Graphics, 2011
Publisher Age Rating: 6 and up
