This is an oversize nonfiction picture book about the search for life on exoplanets lanets beyond our solar system. The text continually poses open-ended questions ("When you look toward the stars, do you ever wonder if anyone is looking back?") and presents kid-friendly scenarios that help young readers grasp concepts. The text is woven around an African American girl and her family's visit to a space museum, and incorporates information about astronomy, giant telescopes, types of exoplanets, how to find them, and ongoing space research. Of course, if we do someday find a planet that's "just right" (meaning, it has all the ingredients necessary to sustain human life), that just opens up another batch of questions: "Should we stay quiet and hide from them?" "If we do send a message, what should we say?" The illustrations, which employ deep, night-sky backgrounds, complement the text, whether reinforcing content or advancing the action. This is the best kind of science writing book that offers as many questions as answers. Aspiring astronomers will love it.

A young girl looks out her window, pondering the universe. A subsequent family trip to the planetarium gives her a lot to think about.Are we alone in the universe? Are there other "Goldilocks planets" out there capable of sustaining life, planets that are "not too hot and not too cold, not too big and not too small, not too soft and not too hard" but "just right"? Older adult readers might hear the voice of Carl Sagan in the narrative, an authoritative, planetarium-movie voice explaining the universe with a focus on "exoplanets," planets that orbit stars outside of our solar system. Kids may imagine Neal DeGrasse Tyson. Woven through the text are the twin narratives of the girl and her family's visit to the planetarium and its "Searching for Exoplanets" exhibition. The illustrations, suffused with glowing light, are dynamically varied, including a colorful double-page spread of the Milky Way galaxy, panels carrying information, fanciful visions of other worlds, and an all-black spread with just one stark sentence in white: "Or maybe it's like nothing we can even imagine." Lanan effectively balances the girl's visual narrative with the heavier scientific exposition of the text. The girl, who has exuberantly kinky hair, and her family present black; other planetarium guests are a diverse group. Thorough backmatter includes books, websites, astronomy clubs, and various websites for further exploration.An attractive and informative volume for young stargazers. (Informational picture book. 6-10)

Readers join a brown-skinned girl with a polka-dotted backpack as she asks questions about the stars and visits a space museum, where she watches exoplanets careen overhead in a planetarium. In sweeping, inky art, Lanan captures the child-s dawning awareness of the vastness of the universe. Manley-s writing swings gracefully between factual descriptions (-Earth orbits in our solar system-s -habitable zone---) and more lyrical observations: -All stars twinkle, but some stars also seem to wink at us... as if saying, -I know a secret.--- Back home after the museum trip, the child considers the types of life-forms that might be out there. Richly informative prose and intimate yet expansive art show a child-s contagious enthusiasm for the book-s subject. Includes a timeline of astronomical discoveries and suggestions for further reading. Ages 5-9. (Jan.)