“In this inventive book clouds form the letter B, a meandering river outlines an A, while cracks in sea ice make a perfect W. The book’s appendix explains the origin of each image, as well as naming the satellite that took it.”
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“Young children will find the alphabet in amazing places in ABCs from Space, an abecedary composed of distant landforms, cloud formations, and sinuous waterways.
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“Twenty or so years from now, we may point to this book as the launchpad for the careers of astrophysicists and astronauts.
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ABCs From Space:
A Discovered Alphabet
Look up! Does that cloud look like an animal? Do the stars form a circle in the sky? But have you ever wondered what our world looks like from space? Discover the alphabet in an all-new way with this picture book filled with images of Earth from space.
Voiland takes us on a journey of our planet from afar. And you might be very surprised at what you see. Could that river form an A? Could those clouds form a B? These awe-inspiring and unaltered images of Earth from above showcase the diversity and beauty of our amazing planet in a special and unique way.
From A to Z, ABCs from Space is a rare opportunity to see Earth like you could never have imagined. And as you go through the book, play a guessing game of where and what the letters might be and then find the answers in the detailed descriptions in the back of the book along with information about the science of space.
“In this inventive book clouds form the letter B, a meandering river outlines an A, while cracks in sea ice make a perfect W. The book’s appendix explains the origin of each image, as well as naming the satellite that took it.”
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“This highly unusual and scientific alphabet book will intrigue those sky gazers who see shapes in the clouds…Definitely not your usual ABC book, this sophisticated approach will best appeal to science teachers and scientifically minded children.
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The Alphabet From Space
‘Aloha, A! What begins with A? There is Antarctica, Azerbaijan, algal blooms, and alluvial fans. Astronauts appreciating awe-inspiring views of Earth from above. And these ancient Appalachian ridges in America intersected by an azure river in autumn!’
We’ve all looked up at clouds and found faces, objects and animals within their white puffy shapes. Astronauts and satellites can do the same thing – but from far above in outer space…
While working on a story about wildfires in northern Canada, NASA science writer and new father Adam Voiland found a stunning satellite image of an enormous smoke cloud, many miles across, shaped like the letter ‘V’. The majesty of that image made Adam wonder: could he track down all 26 letters of the alphabet for his newborn baby son, using only satellite imagery and photographs of the Earth taken by astronauts? With the help of readers and colleagues at NASA, he started to collect images of clouds, blooms of sea plankton and dust storms that formed shapes reminiscent of all the letters from A to Z.
The result is this beautiful book of earth imagery. It offers a unique view of the alphabet, where letters are spelled out by rivers, deserts, mountains and ice. At a time when Space travel is more popular than ever, and astronauts from Chris Hadfield to Tim Peake are inspiring a whole generation of young readers, this book is a delight for adults and children alike. It is at once a celebration of Space, language and the natural beauty of our home planet, and a gift to keep for ever.