Up, Up High - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

If you enjoyed diving into the ocean's depths with Lydia Lukidis in Deep, Deep, Down, you will get a real kick out of her new nonfiction picture book which takes the reader on a front-row seat exploration of the wonders and mysteries of Earth's atmosphere.

Book cover - a rocket blasting up from Earth, passing a cloud, eagle, and satellite.

Up, Up High: The Secret Poetry of Earth's Atmosphere

Author: Lydia Lukidis

Illustrator: Katie Rewse

Publisher: Capstone Publishing (2025)

Ages: 8-11

Themes:

Earth's atmosphere, STEM, environment, and poetry.

Synopsis:

Look up—into the blue and beyond. What do you see? The sky—our atmosphere—may seem empty or invisible. But is it? Using spare, lyrical language, author Lydia Lukidis (Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench) takes readers on an imagined journey up, up high to discover the surprising and wonderous things flying, floating, and happening between the treetops and the stars in this STEM-based picture book.

Opening Lines:

Up,

up,

high,

higher than the tallest trees,

higher than the biggest buildings,

floats an invisible world,

Earth's atmosphere.

Do air and clouds dominate the massive sky?

Does anything exist up there?

Where does the sky end

and space begin?

What I LOVED about this book:

With a spare lyrical beginning similar to her previous book, Down, Down Deep, Lydia Lukidis does a great job of capturing the reader's attention by posing questions of the mysterious world above us. I especially like the last one - "Where does the sky end and space begin?" It would be fun to pause here in a reading and discover how kids answer before continuing.

Internal spread - looking up from the grass at a tall building and trees extending into a clear, sunny sky.

Text © Lydia Lukidis, 2025. Image © Katie Rewse, 2025.

Katie Rewse's bright, colorful illustrations, join with the narrative shift into a second person voice, to carry the reader on a rocket journey into an exploration of Earth's atmosphere. Practical information is conveyed in concise sidebars, touching on things like the modern functioning of rockets, altitude and pressure, snow leopards, and space jumping. Offering tantalizing information to interested readers, without interrupting the lyrical narrative.

Internal spread - on the left, a rocket next to the launch tower. On the right, the rocket blasting into space.

As the rocket "pierces cotton-candy clouds," and travels higher and higher, a ticker in the upper left tracks the reader's altitude and the atmospheric layer. Lydia Lukidis and Katie Rewse masterfully interweave the interesting science (storms, weather balloons, northern lights, and meteoroids) with their engaging lyrical text and enticing illustrations. I love the perspective of peering out the rocket's pothole at a hiker on top of Mt. Everest and passing close to the ISS and satellites.

Internal spread - group of red Sprites, Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) found in the Mesosphere of Earth's atmosphere.

They also capture fascinating sprites - part of the Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) - which scientists know very little about. It's really cool to see a phenomenon which only occurs for a tenth of a second and "can only be seen at night using highly sensitive cameras." Special features and treasures are explored in each zone, until returning the reader to earth and concluding with a beautiful poetic nod to our unique atmosphere. The wonderful inclusion of an illustrated atmospheric chart and further information on each level, as well as a glossary and additional resources round out this spectacular poetic ode to the Earth's atmosphere. It's a great STEM resource for budding scientists, parents, and teachers.

Resources:

Photo of clear jar showing visual experiment with creating layers of the atmosphere. © Brittany Kelly

Try an experiment with household items to show the layers of the atmosphere.
Make your own collage chart/graphic of the Earth's atmosphere layers and the things or a 3-D model of the atmosphere. Add in as many of the features, like the sprites, discussed in the book as you can.

Explore NASA's scrolling activity and explore the layers of Earth's atmosphere for 1.1 miles above sea level to 831.9 miles above sea level: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/whats-in-the-atmosphere/ and explore some of NASA's atmospheric missions: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/menu/atmosphere/.

Meet an atmospheric scientist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEWGTd72aL8&ab_channel=NationalScienceFoundationNews

If you missed my interview with Lydia Lukidis on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.