"Next time you see a sunset, stop and sit down for a while." This book's tempting opening line invites children and adults to take in a daily phenomenon with fresh eyes. By reading Next Time You See a Sunset together, you can learn to appreciate the spinning of the Earth, the progress of day into night, and the reasons for the spectacular colors and shadows that accompany sunrise and sunset. Awaken a sense of wonder in a child with the Next Time You See series from NSTA Kids. The books will inspire elementary-age children to experience the enchantment of everyday phenomena such as seashells and sunsets. Free supplementary activities are available on the NSTA website. Especially designed to be experienced with an adult―be it a parent, teacher, or friend―Next Time You See books serve as a reminder that you don't have to look far to find something remarkable in nature. This purposeful book is meant to increase a child’s enjoyment of a sunset as well as explain why it occurs, and it succeeds without becoming overly prescriptive. The author’s opening note to parents and teachers, encouraging the child to experience a sunset before any discussion or explanation, sets the tone of wonder and curiosity preceding understanding. Many of the beautiful photographs are spread over the gutter, with the text, often simple questions or descriptions, supplementing the viewing experience. This is a celebration of the natural world as well as a guide to experiencing it; humans only appear in photographs describing shadows. The location and photographer of each photograph is included at the conclusion of the book, along with suggested activities. Pair it with another family-friendly book, Barbara Kerley’s The World Is Waiting for You (2013), which looks at simple ways to enjoy the great outdoors. Grades 1-3. --Edie Ching This purposeful book is meant to increase a child s enjoyment of a sunset as well as explain why it occurs, but it never becomes overly prescriptive. The author s opening note to parents and teachers, encouraging the child to experience a sunset before any discussion or explanation, sets the tone of wonder and curiosity preceding understanding. Many of the beautiful photographs are spread over the gutter, with the text, often simple questions or descriptions, supplementing the viewing experience. This is a celebration of the natural world as well as a guide to experiencing it; humans only appear in photographs describing shadows. --Booklist October 15, 2013 These books expect to inspire in students a sense of wonder at natural phenomena and also to encourage readers to wonder things for themselves. ...Of course, a sense of wonder at the natural world is most powerfully created when it is experienced directly, and the books take great pains to acknowledge this. Although each page is dominated by photographs of excellent quality, it is acknowledged that this is no substitute for the real thing and readers are urged to get out and experience things for themselves through a range of suggested activities. In Next Time You See a Sunset there are descriptions of how to use globes in order to understand that sunsets are not something that can be explained simply on a flat page, but a physical movement in the 3D world. Further resources are available online, but these are mainly just extended versions of the suggested activities in the books. These books would be great accompaniments to a nature table, or as invitations to exploration for students to use independently, but would be equally effective as coffee table books for students to browse during quiet reading for example, as a simple reminder of some of the amazing features of our world. --Primary Science January/February 2014 Emily Morgan is a former elementary and middle school science teacher. She is the author of the Next Time You See picture book series for children and co-author of the Picture-Perfect STEM Lessons series for teachers. Her book Next Time You See a Sunset was selected for Story Time from Space where it was read by astronaut Mark Vande Hei on the International Space Station and shared with children all over the globe. She has served as a science consultant for the Hamilton County Educational Service Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the science leader for the High AIMS Consortium, and Board President of iSPACE: The STEM Learning Place. Emily holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Wright State University and a master’s in education from the University of Dayton.