Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night?

Life has been crazy this past week so I was extremely thankful when I ran into this website where I could download children's books for free! How awesome is that?! I will share with all of you this link in case you are having a hectic week and cannot make it to the library. At https://freekidsbooks.org/ you are provided with all kinds of children's books that have free downloads. You can find books that you want to use in the classroom, books for to read at night to your own children, and even books just for enjoyment. As I was scrolling through, I found the book Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night? This book is a non-fiction children's book that you could use in a science class grades 1-3 to discuss how the Earth rotates around the sun, making it "disappear at night."

Non-fiction books can often be portrayed as boring. However, this book does an excellent job of keeping the topic interesting. This book is about a brother and sister trying to figure out where the sun goes at night. The book provides all of these different crazy ideas that children may have about where the sun goes. To give you an idea, an excerpt from the text is below.

"I think
That maybe, while it is night
Here on earth,
It is a glorious day in
The ocean's darkest depths.
And the mermaids come dancing out
Of their undersea caves
To frolic with the sharks.
We have seen it ourselves
When we went to Mumbai last summer.
Remember
How the sun lets go of the sky
Each evening at dusk
And slides soundlessly into the sea?
That’s where I think the sun goes at night
To flood the underwater
With golden light.
I’m clever, aren’t I sister?"

We may laugh at this crazy idea, but many of our students might actually think this way! The book goes through several different examples, provided with illustrations for the children to look at to further understand. Towards the end of the book, the sister state that in all of the books she has read it says the Earth rotates. Then she explains what all of the books say to her brother and he says, "Can it be true, sister, can it be true?"

After the book ends, it provides you with a "find out more" section, where it explains in more scientific terms of the Earth's rotation and why the sun seems to disappear. The book then provides you with an experiment! I know... AWESOME! This book would be a fantastic way to engage your students in a topic that could potentially be pretty boring. I also would like to add that this is a very awesome non-fiction book. The children's crazy ideas and illustrations are so much more intriguing than your typical textbook.  I absolutely love this book and this website!