Children's Science Book Database

Moon Trouble

This book does not really foster the development of scientific processes. The kids can predict what's going to happen in the story, but it's basically just a story that doesn't really have many entry points to science. It talks about a bunch of people discovering the moon in a lake and try to throw it back into the sky. The way that the moon was portrayed in the story was completely unscientific.Moon Trouble
  • Author: M.C. Helldorfer
  • Illustrator: Jonathan Hunt
  • Year Published: 1994
  • ISBN: 0-02-743517-2

Science Topics

Minimum Suggested Grade Level

Maximum Suggested Grade Level

Summary

A group of people in the community discovered the moon in a river one day and look for ways to put the moon back into the sky. They ended up finding a man by the name of Paul Bunyan to stick the moon back to the sky.

Evaluation

  • Appropriateness: Medium
  • Authority: Low
  • Accuracy: Low
  • Liteary Artistry: Medium
  • Appearance: Low

Questions

Does the book foster development of processes?

This book does not really foster the development of scientific processes. The kids can predict what's going to happen in the story, but it's basically just a story that doesn't really have many entry points to science. It talks about a bunch of people discovering the moon in a lake and try to throw it back into the sky. The way that the moon was portrayed in the story was completely unscientific.

Does the book provide an opportunity for children to ask and answer their own questions?

The students can ask questions about the moon and why it stays in the sky, but for students to have the actual scientific concepts students would need to look somewhere else and not gather the information from this book because it can lead them to the wrong conclusion.

Does the book encourage children to think for themselves?

This book might encourage students to think about whether the stuff mentioned in the book is actually real because this book is more like a folktale that seeks to explain how moon was discovered and how it's not up in the sky, but the book doesn't really encourage students to think scientifically. It kind of indirectly tells the students that this story explains why moon is up in the sky.

Is the science topic addressed in ways that are appropriate to the lesson?

I do not think the science topic was addressed appropriately to the lesson because the moon was portrayed as really light that anyone can lift, and it came from a river. I think the book will just create more misunderstandings for the students if they read it. The book talks about the moon, but it doesn't represent the moon in a scientific way. It's clearly a fiction book. I wouldn't share this book with my students as a part of my lesson.

Is the content based on sound scientific principles? Is it accurate?

The content is not based on sound scientific principles because it describes the moon as coming from the river and it's now up in the sky because a guy named Paul somehow went on the North Pole and swing the earth's axis to make the moon up on the sky again. There's just no scientific evidence related to this story at all. It doesn't present an accurate view of the size and weight of the moon or why the moon is able to stay in orbit around the earth.

Does the book distinguish between fact and fiction?

I don't think this book distinguish between fact and fiction. It is clearly a fiction book because it people discovering the moon in a river and a giant guy by the name of Paul putting the moon back into the sky by swinging the earth's axis. To a child who doesn't know anything about the moon might actually take it as the truth because this book does not address the fact that this is just simply a made up story or provide the necessary fact for the child to question what's the real reason behind why moon is able to stay in orbit.

Are the illustrations clear and accurate?

The illustrations are not accurate because it shows a picture of the moon 3/4ths submerged in this tiny river, and another picture of a guy lifting the moon up. There was also another page that contains the picture of the people bouncing the moon on a blanket. The size proportion is completely inaccurate and the make up of the moon is also not portrayed correctly. Even though the picture of the moon has craters on it like how the real moon has craters, but the size and weight of it was not represented accurately in the story.

Is the book written at the level of your students?

In terms of the vocabulary and the amount of text, this is probably around a 3rd to 5th grade level book. There's around 17 pages of text and each page contains a couple lines of text. The text level is appropriate for my students, I think they would be able to read it independently, but the content can be problematic for kids when they are reading it.

Is there a multicultural component? Is it free from stereotyping?

In terms of content, there's not really anything that relates to multicultural topic. However, the picture does show the different race and ethnicity of people living in that community, but overall the whites dominates the community that was represented in the story. There wasn't any stereotyping in this book because the content really was focused on the moon instead of the people.

Is the book free from gender bias?

No. I think this book definitely portrays the men as the stronger ones in the community because they were the ones who are lifting the moon and the person who ended up putting the moon back into the sky was a man. The women were kind of just on the side watching or cheering when the moon was finally back into the sky.

Does the book show the close association between science and other disciplines?

This book talks about the moon, but it also can be used to teach main idea or summarizing through sequences of events. In the book the people in the community tried different ways to put the moon back into the sky. Other than that I don't think the book really show the association between science and other disciplines.

Does the book present a positive attitude toward science and technology?

Technology wasn't really addressed in this book at all. Maybe because this book was written in 1990s so not much was mentioned in the book at all. In the story the people used rope, balloons, and the blanket to try to put the moon back into the sky. These things aren't very technologically advanced. Overall, I would say this book does not present a relationship between science and technology for readers to know if it has a negative or positive attitude toward technology. However, I do think that the book presents a negative attitude towards science because it doesn't address any scientific facts related to the moon and it uses the explanation of a person tilting the earth's axis as a way to justify why the moon is in the sky.