Abigail and the Making of the Moon

by Cunningham, Matthew; Wilkins, Sarah

• ISBN13: 9780143779520
• ISBN10: 0143779524
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2023-08-04
• Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited

Summary

A book for every budding astrophysicist - join curious Abigail as she discovers how the Moon came to orbit the Earth. One clear day, Abigail thinks of a question and knows that she won’ t be able to do anything else if she doesn’ t have an answer to it. “ Daddy,” she asked, “ where did the Moon come from?” “ From the Earth, Abigail,” replied Daddy. “ The Moon was once a part of the Earth.” “ It was?” Abigail asked. “ But how did it get in the sky? And how does it stay in the sky? And why do we only ever see one side of the Moon?” What follows is an evocatively simple story within a story explaining how the newborn Earth collided with another planet, and how gravity acts like invisible hands reaching out and keeping the Moon spinning around the Earth, the Earth spinning around the Sun, and the Sun spinning around the galaxy. And of course by dinner time, Abigail has thought of a new big question…

Author Biography

Matthew Cunningham is a passionate and dedicated historian with a Doctor of Philosophy (History) from Victoria University of Wellington. He has published oral histories, peer-reviewed articles, journalistic and encyclopedic pieces, and Waitangi Tribunal research commissions. He lives in Porirua, New Zealand, and works as a researcher. He is active on Facebook and is a member of a number of parent groups, including several for gifted children Sarah Wilkins is an award-winning illustrator whose images can be found on buildings, buses, bags and many other curious places around the world, but they feel most at home on the pages of beautiful books. Sarah illustrates from a light-filled studio perched high on a hill overlooking the Wellington Harbour. She is curious about visually communicating science for young and old, and illustrated the first two Abigail books while completing her Master in Science in Society