Books and Bad Astronomy
Recently I complained about books that haven’t aged well for me, due to a mix of sensibilities and my sense of humor. Today I have a more specific complaint: the bad astronomy in children’s books, particularly in dealing with the phases of the moon. The culprits include, but by no means are limited to:
- Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. Yes, I’ve seen the astrophysics of Goodnight Moon. And while the moon rises in the book, it still implies that a full moon is low in the sky and rising at bedtime, every night.
- Grandfather Twilight is another full moon rising around sunset every night.
- The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Boynton. I adore Sandra Boynton, but in this book we have a crescent moon rising every night.
I am particularly harsh on the bedtime books, because those are books that get re-read over and over and over. The Going to Bed Book and Goodnight Moon are certainly part of our bedtime routine, and my son has started pointing to the moon in The Going to Bed Book. Yet I am on the hunt for something better. Read the rest of this entry →