help/Advice Wanted: 8 y/o Into Astronomy

[lizzywednesday]

OK, so our 8 y/o niece is really into the natural sciences, but this year, she seems to be into astronomy in particular.

I was thinking that a nice gift for her for Christmas this year would be an atlas of the night sky, but I'm reluctant to just search Amazon for one and realize it's not appropriate or it's too difficult to use.

She also asked for a telescope, so any recommendations on an inexpensive, sturdy telescope would be appreciated as well. (She has a 4 y/o brother who gets into EVERYTHING, as little brothers are wont to do, so kidproof is a huge plus.)

Lastly, our max budget for all gifts for her is about $50. (As a caveat, we may spend up to $30 more because we didn't get her a birthday gift, bringing the grand total to $80.)

Oh, and I usually suck at shopping for girls, so I'm trying to make up for it.

[missym]

This looks like it might be a good deal on a first telescope:
http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21024-FirstScope-Telescope/dp/B001UQ6E4Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1291127772&sr=8-3

This book looks really good but Amazon says "ships in 1-3 weeks" - maybe you could get it locally or from B&N or Borders?
http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Introduction-Night-Sky-Constellations/dp/157912366X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291127980&sr=1-1
Borders:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=157912366X

This book also looks fun:
http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Book-Night-Sky-Family/dp/1553371283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291128220&sr=1-1

[lizzywednesday]

Thanks for the links!

I have two books in my cart and will likely place the order on Friday. Hopefully, I'll get some more input from my SIL about what to get the kids for Christmas soon so I can shop and wrap ASAP.

It's the awful truth: I really suck at buying for girls and there are 7 girls on DH's side of the family, so gift-buying is really anxiety-inducing for me whenever I have to think about things a little girl might like. (For a counterpoint, the Christmas when I was 8, I asked for a real camera, the Visible Woman model kit and an Erector set. Needless to say, that doesn't always fly with the nieces.)

[swissair81]

My sister showed me this website when I was looking for anatomy stuff for DD1. They seem to have some nice astronomy stuff: http://www.discoverthis.com/astronomy.html

[egoldber]

This is coming up as an Amazon Lightning deal in about 45 minutes. You can look inside the book and I think it looks great!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1426301707