All children ask questions, but at the preschool and early-elementary level they have an awesome capacity for wonder. Four-year-olds are noted for asking why. It is this appetite for answers that Catherine Ripley seeks to satisfy in her new book, the fourth in the Question & Answer Storybook series. Why is the Sky Blue? successfully provides young investigators with the information they seek, in a format that is both practical and appealing.

Ripley, the author of Outdoor Fun and a veteran of 10 years with Chickadee magazine, uses the same picture book format of her earlier books to draw in her readers. In this one, a little girl goes to the park with her dad and encounters a number of curiosities about science and nature along the way. Ripley has chosen 12 often-asked questions, including “Where do puddles go?”, and, of course, the ever-popular “Why is the sky blue?”

Ripley’s text is thorough and clear and easily understood by children four and up. It is complemented by Scot Ritchie’s illustrations, which are charming as always and help carry along the action. However, the pictures could benefit from more detail, especially in the small insets that show matters up close.

By the age of seven, many kids will find the text simplistic and the pictures a bit babyish (this is not a reference book). And, as with every book that answers the question “why?”, this one has limited replay value. What Ripley’s book achieves is the opening of a door. Having parents or teachers read these questions aloud encourages curiosity, discussion, and more questions, which will hopefully lead to the further pursuit of answers. In this sense, the book is a very successful introduction to the science of everyday things.