Beautiful illustrations and easily digestible information for kids. Will be a great addition to classrooms or for any space obsessed kids.

My kids loved this book. The pictures and information provided was so intriguing and kept the kids entertained for hours at a time.

'The Mysteries of the Universe: Discover the best-kept secrets of space' by Will Gater is a fantastic book for any kids who love the stars and space. It is easy to understand for all ages and gorgeous!

Beautiful and lots of areas covered related to space science. Great for space unit studies and for students to read on their own for extra information. I think I will end up purchasing a copy of this book for my library. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my digital review copy.

The Mysteries of the Universe is a beautifully illustrated book. I think it's a great learning option for kids, it gives the right amount of information on each of the pages and doesn't overload the reader with too many facts. It makes learning about the universe a fun experience and not a exhausting task of learning.

The Mysteries of the Universe: Discover the Best-Kept Secrets of Space is from the publishing team at DK Children.From planets and asteroids to black holes and galaxies, every page will captivate young readers as they journey through the vastness of space. Each celestial body is shown both photographically and illustrated, and children will love poring over the detailed close-up images. Engaging storybook-style descriptions of each object allow readers to delve into myths, legends, trivia, and key discoveries about the solar system and beyond. Wonder at the rocky rings around Saturn, discover the tale behind the constellation Centaurus, and gaze at the fountains gushing from Jupiter's moon Enceladus. With reference pages packed with fascinating information, you'll go away knowing something you didn't before, and you'll return time and again.

The Mysteries of the Universe: Discover the Best-Kept Secrets of Space is an accessible and interesting read. The information is organized well, with single page-spread layouts for each concept explained. The images are splendid; they are bold, bright, and offer visual interest and further insight on almost every page. I thought that the information included as well chosen, and understandable for a wide range of ages. I really enjoyed the details that were included, and the I enjoyed looking at each page, taking my time to enjoy the image details paired with the text. The visual guides in the endpages made me particularly happy, offering further information in a way that inspires rather than boring younger readers. I think this text could become a well loved volume in a home library, or a much view part of a public, school, or classroom library collection.

Ultra modern advanced research for children!

Will Gater's narrative style is personal, managing to spread scientific information through a pleasant and understandable process for children and adolescents. It also contains impressive photographs, many of which were taken by NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team.

Content is up-to-date on the latest research and discoveries. It is a quality scientific educational material for schools and homeschooling, to complement the subject of Earth and Space Science. It can help students develop a comprehensive and science-based overview of the solar system and the Universe.

My sincere appreciation to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book

Visually Stunning Look at the Universe

I don't think I would say that this book necessarily explores the “mysteries” of the universe; rather, it rolls out stunning images of the universe itself along with explanatory text. When that is done as well as it is in this book, it's okay that few mysteries are explored. The book surveys our universe starting here on planet Earth, looking at things like the aurorae and meteors as well as our moon and sun and things like earthshine and sunspots, before moving on to the greater solar system, going planet by planet moving out from the sun. Most planets are given more than a two-page spread, showing formations, their moons, or other interesting aspects like Saturn's rings and Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The book then moves out to the Kuiper Belt with its dwarf planets like Pluto and comets. The book continues to go farther afield into the Oort Cloud and beyond, looking at particular stars and nebulae, including the stunning Pillars of Creation. The last big section is on galaxies including our local group, the Magellanic Clouds, and the Andromeda galaxy as well as talking about galaxy shapes in general. The book provides maps of northern and southern constellations. An end section shows key dates and people in the discovery of space.

What I loved most about this book is the stunning full-color photographs on all these pages. If you're familiar with DK books, many of them have very busy pages with lots of information and visual elements. I do love those books, but they can be a little busy. In this book, however, the pages are not so jam-packed; the stunning photographs and small illustrations are given room to “wow” along with just enough text to help you understand what you're seeing and what you should know about the object. I also liked that this book had small diagrams that show things like a planet with its moons in orbit around it, showing relative distances, or showing how precisely the Earth, moon, and sun align to make an eclipse. Such simple diagrams can help you simply visualize complex relationships. A stunningly colorful look at our universe, from our home on planet Earth to the biggest possible view we can create of what the universe holds. I fell in love with astronomy as a child; I asked for a telescope for my ninth birthday. If you or someone you know had (or has) such a fascination with the universe, a book like this can spark that joy and wonder all over again. Highly recommended if you or anyone in your family enjoys space or astronomy.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review * What a beautiful and detailed book :0 the cover alone makes me want to buy it, inside is full of so much info and great art!! i love it!

The images in this book are fantastic! This would be a great book to leave lying around, perfect for impromptu browsing for your kiddos. The text sections are short and very readable. I love that the pages aren't cluttered like similar books which tend to be overwhelming for many kids. I'll definitely be adding a physical copy to our personal library.

This was just brilliant. My space obsessed son and I devoured this, and there’s a good chance I’ll buy this for him for Christmas. Oh sure, he had some complaints, namely they don’t make a mention of barred spiral and barred lenticular galaxies, and what of the actual mysteries like dark matter and how the universe will end and all the hypothetical space stuff? (This one knows about blitzars and white holes and blue dwarf stars). But it also mentioned some things he hadn’t read about - a bunch of things about nebulae for example. And I loved all of it. It has great pictures accompanying the sometimes detailed descriptions, and is clear in the details.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A gorgeous children’s books from DK introducing them to many aspects of the universe... I’ve definitely learned a thing or two reading through this book and the beautiful illustrations !

It comes to no surprise that I really enjoyed this book by DK. With their vibrant pictures and jam-packed with information.

Some of the information given or the “mysteries” were known to me and to my understanding they were pretty common but hey, what do I know.

Overall, I would definitely be picking this up to add the my DK collection.

An absolutely gorgeous introduction to the wonders of the universe!

It lays down the basics of many concepts, in easy to follow, brief snippets, with a stunning pictures or detailed diagrams. The imagery itself is worth the price of admission. The approach taken is sure to pique little readers' curiosity, and light a fire that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Reading this book makes you realize that perhaps someone reading this book today will reach some of the places mentioned in these pages, or perhaps will make the next big discovery - out there!

This is the stuff memories are made of. Images like these are sure to stay with any reader - irrespective of age or interests!

Thanks to DK and NetGalley for an ARC, to provide an honest review.
Pleasure's all ours!!

Opinions: The Mysteries of the Universe was a colourful, insightful, and resonating read for children and teenagers! Although most of the topics aren't exactly mysteries, readers actually learn something about the phenomena in our space and beyond. Even if some complex ideas are skimmed over and readers are left with hundreds of questions, The Mysteries of the Universe inspires the questions to be answered, not ignored when the book is thrown on the shelf. If you are interested in our scientific universe or want your child to learn in fun ways, I strongly recommend The Mysteries of the Universe!

My Favourite Thing: As with most children's books but not all, I appreciate the "user-friendly" setup of this book! All of the information is laid out in a visually pleasing way, making it easy to read and remember the important bits. Children, even those who aren't fond of reading, will find it easy to learn and stay engaged thanks to the supporting graphics and colors! Angela Rizza deserves a huge shoutout for her contributions to teaching preteens through imagery and design.

My Least Favourite Thing: While reading, I noticed that complex and confusing subjects were skimmed over while less important ones were given far too much attention. I believe children would prefer understanding what a nebula is rather than memorize the different scientific names for each of them.

Total Rating: G
Language: G
Adult Content: G
Violence: G

Recommended For and Similar Reads: The Mysteries of the Universe is an insightful yet entertaining book for children interested in the phenomena around us! Search no more; if you have questions or want to understand the world, this book has the answers. Similar reads are Dr Maggie's Grand Tour of the Solar System by Maggie Aderin-Pocock, First Big Book of Space by Catherine D Hughes, and Packing for Mars by Mary Roach.

This would be a phenomenal gift for a young astronomy lover. It goes over pretty much everything we have learned about the universe. Galaxies, nebulas, planets, stars, asteroids, you name it. It’s in an easy to understand format for kids 10 and up. All the information paired with the amazing photos and diagrams, make this a great space book!

Mysteries of the Universe by Will Gate and illustrated by Angela Rizza and Daniel Long is another excellent product from DK. Though “mysteries” is perhaps a bit misleading, in that the book mostly explains well-accepted facts with a few theories thrown in, such as how our moon formed or why Neptune is sideways. “Mysteries”, at least for me, calls up questions such as what dark matter or dark energy is, or why is gravity so weak, etc. But that’s a minor blip.

The book covers a host of topics, including the major objects in the solar system: all the planets, the sun, asteroids and comets, several major and intriguing moons. It then ventures beyond our planetary system into the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, then farther afield to stars, exoplanets, nebulae, and galaxies. Sometimes the objects get a single paragraph of text, sometimes several over a few pages. Mars, for instance, is covered generally, followed by more focus on particular features or subjects, such as Olympus Mons, Valles Marineris, the possibility of water, its two moons. The text is informative and for the most part is well targeted toward an older young audience, employing at times a conversational tone. Now and then it seems to assume a bit of prior knowledge that may or may not be present, as when it refers to “charged particles,” but that is rare. It’s also concise, conveying the essential information but of necessity due to length, leaving a lot of detail unsaid. Given this book’s strengths, that most likely means readers will move to other books (including DK ones) that might fill in the blanks more fully, say about comets or black holes. That’s exactly what a good overview should do.

The text is accompanied by an often-gorgeous photograph and/or an instructive illustration. DK is known for its visuals, which are chosen both for their aesthetics and their educational effectiveness, and their high standards hold here as well.

Much of this covers familiar ground, but the best aspect of Mysteries of the Universe, and why it makes a great pick-up, is just how to up to date it is, covering for example the New Horizons mission and what it revealed about Pluto or recent probes of the asteroid belt. This new information, in addition to the general quality of both the text and the visuals, makes adding this to the library an easy call.

I would love to gift this book to many of the kids in my family. The illustrations are stunning and the content is presented in a language that children can understand without oversimplifying the information. I would even encourage parents to read it along with their kids, they might learn a thing or two they did not know before. I sure did!

This book was very cute. I read it with ny Middlegrade aged son and we both really enjoyed it. We learned a lot and definetly would recommend this to friends.

I have long been a fan of DK books, and this book was no exception. Their materials are often excellent (home) school resources. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in astronomy for personal or educational use.
"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."