For my Trade book,  I decided on choosing:

Beyond the Solar System: Exploring Galaxies, Black Holes, Alien Planets, and More; A History with 21 Activities by Mary Kay Carson. 

What I found interesting about this book is it's unique way of tracing our footsteps in the research of astronomy and space. The Author takes the readers through a fact finding mission of space dating back to the first pioneers of space.

Including details of the some of the first explorers and detailed missions of space. The book also has 21 hands on activities which include Start with the 21 hands-on activities included in the book. Readers may model the warping of spacetime caused by a black hole, inflate a balloon to see how the universe expands, and construct a reflecting telescope out of a makeup mirror and a magnifying glass. The full list of projects includes: 1. Find Polaris, the North Star (no equipment needed!) 2. Model Ptolemy’s view of the universe 3. Make an Astrolabe to measure the angles of space objects 4. Star-watch 5. Observe the sky without and with binoculars 6. Make a reflecting telescope 7. Split white light 8. Make a 3-D starscape 9. Construct a model to explore two views of the Milky Way 10. Make sky measurements using just your hand 11. Demonstrate general relativity using a t-shirt 12. Make a toy that demonstrates the equivalence of gravity and acceleration 13. Model how a planet affects space-time 14. Use a balloon to model the expanding universe 15. Construct a radio frequency interference detector 16. Make a radio picture 17. Model a pulsar using a flashlight 18. Model a black hole using a can and a balloon 19. Create a 3-D map out of bubbles to understand galaxy clusters 20. Map the group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way 21. Create a model to demonstrate how exoplanets are identified. 

The book is geared toward 4th grade readers and up. It is a easy read and valuable to any classroom library.