Review originally appeared in Reports of the National Center for Science Education, Volume 17, Number 6 (1998). Presented here by permission of the author.

"How did I happen?" is one of the most common, often unanswered, formally unasked, and deeply interesting questions of primary-school-aged children. The authors this book had as their objective answering this question in a manner that young minds could process and understand. This beautifully illustrated book begins with a question and ends with the idea that there are many more questions to ask and many more discoveries to be made if we put in the effort to do so. The book's initial question, "How do things in the world begin?" is set in a view that seems to be a synthesis of known and unknown with a relatively bright sun-like object, a dark sky containing nebulous colored spheres, and a request to think really hard about something beginning. Try it, imagine trying it, or imagine being in a class with young people who have been giving the challenge to talk about something beginning. This think about something beginning establishes the questioning tone for the entire book.

The next pages illustrate plants, kittens, a baby, and the beginning of a day, and they include brief statements designed to lead the reader to the conclusion that everything has a beginning, including the earth, the sun, and the universe, which began with a big bang that happened a very long time ago. After briefly examining what a long, long time might mean, the authors return to the big bang and the idea that the universe has been and continues to expand in spite of the pull called gravity that tends to pull everything together. The universe at the time of the big bang is illustrated as a smooth area with lumps which, because of the pull of gravity, become larger and larger, forming clouds and, eventually, suns and planets. As this process continues, the authors point out that evolution means to change slowly.

The next stages illustrated are the slow steps of biological evolution which eventually lead to the evolution of people, and even later to scientists, including the cosmologists who study the stars. They, like other great thinkers, use every part of their minds and numerous other resources in their quest for explanation.

The text of the book flows smoothly from the beginning, and the transitions should be easy for teachers and young students to follow. The book then closes by telling the readers that cosmologists use tools, are not always right, and have questions to which they are still seeking answers. Finally, the authors invite the readers to join them in seeking those answers.

The teacher's guide which accompanies the book contains suggestions for 18 45-minute lessons for 1st-3rd graders and 21 45-minute lessons for 4th-5th graders. These lesson suggestions will be particularly useful for beginning teachers and somewhat useful for practicing teachers. The teacher's guide also contains the words to the songs suggested, lists of resources, a star chart, a do-it-yourself starfinder, and suggestions to teachers for communicating with parents concerning what is being taught in school. One might question whether spending 20 days on this one book is appropriate, but, as the authors suggest, there are numerous additional resources that are available, and the idea is certainly worth the time.

Elementary teachers interested in teaching about evolution should find this text and accompanying resource guide to be very useful and will be pleased with the engagement in this issue that the book stimulates among students. The book is excellent-beautifully illustrated, accurate, and motivating. I recommend its use with elementary school children, and I highly recommend this book and the accompanying resources to all elementary teachers who want to engage their students in exploring the big ideas of science.