The best books about stars

50 Things to See with a Telescope covers everything you need to know to identify constellations, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and more. Beginner stargazers will find star hopping easy with clearly plotted routes on images of the sky and detailed views from a backyard telescope. 

This easy-to-read, fully illustrated stargazing book will enrich your experience of the skies above. For those living south of the equator, a Southern Hemisphere edition of this book is also available. This book is part of an award-winning series, including: 50 Things to See on the Moon, 50 Animals that have been to Space, 50 Space Missions that Changed the World, and 110 Things to See with a Telescope (coming July 2021).

The Bushman of southern Africa and the Hadza people far to the north in Tanzania have a greater difference in their DNA than any other pair of peoples. They represent the oldest split among surviving peoples. Yet Bushman and Hadza traditions both have a special place for "Eland" who long ago mounted the Milky Way to the heavenly Hereafter. 

The heavens, however, are not constant and Eland's path is no longer available, nor is the starry route of the migrating birds who return each spring seemingly reborn or renewed. Following Eland or the birds, "As Above, So Below," does not lead to rebirth. Later religions encountered related problems, which they countered by inventing new "World Ages" and great re-settings, as did the Bushman and the Hadza themselves.

Space Encyclopedia is an updated and expanded 2nd edition of my earlier book Planets, Stars & Galaxies presenting the most up-to-date discoveries of the universe including the first breathtaking image of a real black hole. This cosmic compendium contains everything space travelers might need to know about our solar system, a new menagerie of dwarf planets, the formation and ultimate fate of the universe, great-unsolved mysteries, the future of space travel, and the possibility of intelligent life beyond the Earth.

It has almost everything except the kitchen sink. This is your 21st Century passport to the stars. Check your spacesuit for leaks, your journey begins the moment you open it up.

Lavishly illustrated popular exposition of the Hubble Space Telescope, how and why it was created, who built it and fought for it, who used it, and how it has changed our view of the universe.

Alemitu lives with her mother in a poor village in Ethiopia, where she must walk miles for water and hunger roars in her belly. Even though life is difficult, she dreams of someday knowing more about the world. When her mother has no choice but to leave her at an orphanage to give her a chance at a better life, an American family adopts Alemitu. In her new home, water and food are plentiful but she searches for the connection to her homeland and the mother that gave up so much for her. This is our story that I wrote not only to bring awareness to issues of walking for water, which is typically a girl’s job, but also to honor the incredible sacrifice made by my daughter’s birth mother.

The Winter Dragon is the best Dragon to help young Rory cope with winter’s darkness and night-time fears. The Dragon is homemade, yet magical. He comes alive to toast teacakes, warm bath water, and keep the dark at bay. He tells wonderful stories of ancient and mythical creatures, brilliant burning things, dinosaurs, rain dragons, elf-kings, and treasure hoards. He protects Rory with memories to wear like bright armour in the dark and see him safely through to the warmth and light of Spring.

Sophy Williams’s glowing pastel illustrations are both comforting and epic. I’ve read my book to many children. It encourages them to express any night-time worries, comforts them, and indulges their fascination with dragons. (Yes, there is a Welsh language edition.)

On the small space station Azura, Maxion Belmont is constantly torn between his two passions—engineering and music. Both are hobbies handed down from his father, who died two years ago. While his hydrodriver is great for repairing starship parts, every chord played on his father’s old instrument tugs at the latent grief Max hides from his mom and classmates. When a foreign starship appears on the horizon, Azura welcomes its first tourist in years. But there’s something weird about Mr. Hames, the stranger-turned-substitute-teacher. As Max and the rest of Mr. Hames’s class-turned-starship-crew begin to uncover the mysteries of the star whales, they discover they aren’t the only ones looking for the elusive creatures—and not every whaler has good intentions.

Before Wavie's mother died, she gave Wavie a list of instructions to help her find her way in life, including: Be brave, Wavie B! You got as much right to a good life as anybody, so find it! But little did Wavie's mom know that events would bring Wavie back to Conley Hollow, the Appalachian hometown her mother left behind. Now Wavie's back in the Holler—in the clutches of her Aunt Samantha Rose. Life with Samantha Rose is no picnic, but there's real pleasure in making friends with the funny, easygoing kids her aunt calls the "neighborhood-no-accounts." With their help, Wavie just might be able to prevent her aunt from becoming her legal guardian and find her courage and place in the world. 

A boy grows to manhood without a father, in a future of galactic wide corporate corruption. Sam Quartermax's father was killed in a space collision when Sam was only ten years of age. The government reported it as an accident, but the boy could never bring himself to believe this lie. Finally, in college, he discovered the truth, his father was murdered. To find the killers he will travel to the far ends of the galaxy and beyond. The search will require the boy to become a ruthless hunter. In the end, he will have to make a choice. Either kill those who murdered his father and rid the galaxy of the corruption that caused the death of millions, or walk away from his lifelong search for revenge.