Your young readers will be experts on outer space in no time at all with these engaging and easy to read astronomy books! The books on this list are living books that my children and I have read in our homeschool, and every one of them is kid approved! These are great books for homeschool or the classroom, and are perfect for a Charlotte Mason or Well-Educated Heart approach.
Mars’ First Friends by Susanna Leonard Hill and Elisa Paganelli
This is a playful introduction to the planets of the solar system through the viewpoint of personified Mars who is looking for a playmate. Mars finally gets what he is looking for when two rovers land on him. Lots of factual information is integrated into the story, including information about the rovers.
What’s So Special About Planet Earth by Robert E. Wells
This book covers the entire solar system and shows you why Earth is the only planet that can sustain life. It goes through each planet in the solar system and discusses elements such as the temperature, atmosphere, and gravity on each one. Very short, concise, easy to read, and interesting.
The Planets by Gail Gibbons
This book gives a brief description of the characteristics of each of the planets in the solar system, including the size of the planet in relationship to Earth, the temperature, the length of a year on the planet, its moons, and more. This is a good overview of the planets in the solar system.
What’s Out There? A Book About Space by Lynn Wilson
A brief introduction to the solar system, constellations, the Moon, the rotation of the Earth, and more. This book does a good job of covering a lot of information in a clear and interesting way, and the colorful pages help illustrate the concepts.
The Planets in Our Solar System by Franklyn M. Branley
This book is packed with great information, presented in an engaging and entertaining way. One of the best books about the planets! We referred to this book over and over when we were studying space in our homeschool. It gives good details about the relative sizes of the planets and their distance from each other. This is one of my top recommendations for children’s books on space.
The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley
​This is a great introduction to the phases of the Moon and why they occur. The information is clear and easy to understand, which makes this book great for early elementary aged kids. There are also instructions for a fun hands-on activity for demonstrating the phases of the Moon. This is a valuable choice for your study of space!
The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons
This book is excellent and so full of things to learn about the Moon! It covers Moon phases, eclipses, terrain of the Moon, Moon exploration, and more. It is a little long and wordy for younger kids, so it might be best read in two to three sittings if you want to read it to a young elementary child. This is probably the most comprehensive book about the moon on this list.Â
What the Moon is Like by Franklyn M. Branley
This is a great book – lots of great info that is clear and easy to understand. It lightly covers space travel to the moon, the terrain of the moon, gravity on the moon, and more. You can’t go wrong with this author or the Let’s Read and Find Out series!
The Sun and the Moon by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
This simple and gentle introduction to the Sun and the Moon is a good choice for very young children. It shares very basic information about the phases of the moon, what makes day and night, the terrain of the moon, the astronauts that visited the moon, the size of the sun, and more.
Glow in the Dark Constellations: A Field Guide for Young Stargazers by C.E. Thompson
Your little space fan will love this book! It tells all all about the constellations, including instructions of how to spot them in the night sky what time of year they are most easily seen, the prominent stars in the constellation, and a brief story about the mythical characters that they were named after. It also has illustrations of the constellations that glow in the dark! Pretty cool!
The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk
This is a fun book that touches on the planets in the solar system, the role of the Sun, the seasons, and more with entertaining text coupled with silly illustrations. The simple information and lighthearted approach make this an enjoyable read for young children. A great choice for introducing your child to the wonders of space for the first time.
The Sky is Full of Stars by Franklyn M. Branley
Lots of interesting facts about stars and constellations!
Let’s Investigate with Nate: The Solar System by Nate Ball
There is a lot of great information about the solar system woven into this imaginative storyline about kids taking a field trip to Pluto to investigate whether Pluto is a planet. Full of fun facts and interesting to read!
Pluto’s Secret: An Icy World’s Tale of Discovery by Margaret A. Weitekamp
This is one of the best space books we read! This was really fun to read and full of information that you don’t often encounter in children’s books. It tells all about Pluto, the dwarf planets, the Kuiper Belt, and other aspects of space, as well as the reason Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
Our Stars by Anne Rockwell
This is an excellent first introduction to space for young children. It covers a large range of topics including the Sun, the solar system, stars, constellations, meteors, and comets. This is a great jumping off point for studying space with preschool and early elementary age kids.
Shooting Stars by Franklyn M. Branley
We loved this one! It’s simple and easy to follow, and has all kinds of interesting information about meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites. I learned a lot from this book!
Journey into a Black Hole by Franklyn M. Branley
This book explains black holes in a simple way that young kids can understand. An interesting and enjoyable read!
The Sun: Our Nearest Star by Franklyn M. Branley
Lots of great information about the Sun presented in a very easily accessible way. This is a quick and easy read that’s great for preschool to early elementary.
Sun by Steve Tomecek
This book covers lots of topics related to the sun, including the seasons, a little history, solar flares, and more. The information is presented in a way that’s very easy to understand, making this a great book for all ages!
A Trip into Space: An Adventure to the International Space Station by Lori Haskins Houran
This is a very simple introduction to space travel. The text is very basic, but peaks the reader’s curiosity, and gives more information in the back. A great starting point for younger readers learning about space exploration.
The Moon is More Than a Night Light by Robert E. Wells
This book is enjoyable and easy to read for any age, and full of lots of great information that is not commonly found in children’s books, such as how the Moon influences tides and the impact that has on the environment, how the Moon helps the Earth stay in orbit, history about the Moon, and exploration of the Moon. I learned a lot from this book!
Mission to Mars by Franklyn M. Branley
This story takes you on an imaginary trip to Mars. It combines factual information about Mars and space travel with the imaginary possibilities that might someday be reality! A good read for the child who is interested in space travel.
Galaxies, Galaxies! by Gail Gibbons
Tells all about different kinds of galaxies, the telescopes that let us view them, and the history of their discovery. There is so much beyond the Milky Way! Easy to understand and easy to read!
The Boy Whose Head Was Filled With Stars: A Life of Edwin Hubble by Isabelle Marinov
A simple and interesting biography, told in story of form, about the astronomer who proved that there are galaxies other than our own.
Sun! One in a Billion by Stacy McAnulty
This is a cute and fun introduction to the Sun for the youngest children. The colorful illustrations are delightful. A really great book for preschool to early elementary!
Daring Dozen: The Twelve Who Walked on the Moon by Suzanne Slade
This is book tells the story of the real astronauts who visited the moon, beginning with Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission all the way to Apollo 17. Very interesting and informative! The explanations are short and to the point which makes it easy to read. This is an enjoyable read for younger children and older children.
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker
This is the true story of Katherine Johnson, an important mathematician at NASA who helped save Apollo 13 during the space race. This story is amazing and a great way to inspire young girls who love space … or math!
The Big Dipper by Franklyn M. Branley
This is a great basic introduction to the constellations that is simple and easy to understand, which makes this picture book a great choice for young children. It covers the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, the North Star, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, and how you can use the North Star to find cardinal directions. A quick, easy, and enjoyable read!
Yuri was Very Brave by Jason Cranford Teague
This is the story of the very first person to leave Earth’s atmosphere and travel into space. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a name I had never heard of before reading this story, even though he accomplished such a notable milestone in space exploration. The story is told very simply with very few words, so it’s an easy book for any child to appreciate. There is a little more information about Yuri in the back of the book.
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
This is the story of Mae Jemison, who had a big dream to be an astronaut. Through hard work, Mae achieved her dream and became the first African American woman to travel in space.
Papa Put a Man on the Moon by Kristy Dempsey
This is a sweet and easy to read story about one of the factory workers that helped make the cloth that the astronauts wore when they first landed on the moon. Told from the vantage point of a little girl, this is an enjoyable and easy introduction to the first moon landing and some of the behind-the-scenes work that went into it – great for preschool on up!
I hope you enjoyed this list of book recommendations! Thank you for visiting!
