Title: Peter and the Black Hole
Author: Krystyna LaRose
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-5144-5294-3
Pages: 24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
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Peter is a young boy that sees a book on the living room table about Black Holes, so begins this children’s story by author Krystyna LaRose. Certainly the intricacies of the Universe are fascinating, but in Peter and the Black Hole the underlying theme is “Curiosity.”
Peter, being a very strong-willed curious young boy, does his own investigation. He begins by reading other books and talking with his mother about Black Holes. Thus he demonstrates the process of satisfying curiosity, which only comes from “Knowing.” So the pattern of learning as a way to ease the “need to know” initiated from curiosity is instilled in the young minds of those beginning to read, or even younger children being read this book by others. This is such an important lesson and learning about Black Holes are so interesting!
Although the theory of Black Holes has been around for decades, it has only been within the past 50 years that proof of their existence has been acclaimed by astrophysics, with the discovery of gravity waves and viewing orbiting stars approaching the “Event Horizon.” The story telling of Peter and how he sought to learn more about the substance of such awesome phenomena, will undoubtedly sow the seeds of curiosity in the subject matter which may consequentially result in major discoveries in the decades to come. To just think that one day a Nobel Prize may be given for a discovery from someone that read this book and began a life-time of research – now for just that chance alone it is a reason worth reading this book to children!
LaRose emphasizes the glorious feelings that come from being curious and then acting upon it by learning. Also she brings in the trait of being self-sufficient in finding sources of knowledge; seeking out various ways to learn, such as by reading other books and talking with people. As curiosity is an ongoing process, the more one knows the more one understands just how much there still is left to learn!
Artfully illustrated with edge-to-edge pictures, having the galley text superimposed over the images, the book pages with a liberal sense of spaciousness and imprints the story of Peter as he discovers some of the mysteries of the Universe.
Terse in words but heavily laden with sequential story-board pictures, Peter and the Black Hole makes for a perfect book to take from the shelf at bedtime, reading to youngsters right before their trip into dreamland and viewing the curiosities of the Universe within their developing minds.
