EXPLORING SPACE
Adventures Across the Universe With Emma and Louis
by Anne Ameri-Siemens ; illustrated by Anton Hallmann ; translated by David Wilson
Two young space experts conduct a whirlwind tour of the solar system and other astronomical topics.
Brown-skinned Emma and light-skinned Louis begin with basic concepts such as gravity and light-years before going on to cover the Big Bang and the planets; they also offer superficial considerations of random related topics from galaxies to science fiction books and movies. Featuring bright, sometimes busy illustrations, this German import feels haphazardly organized. The entries on Venus and Mercury are sandwiched between those for the likewise out-of-order Neptune and Uranus, and spreads on spacecraft and space tourism, which are at least tangentially related, are interrupted by an introduction to exoplanets. The book also contains several factual flubs that may be translation errors, such as claims that the sun is “the largest star in our solar system” (in fact, it’s the only star) and that Saturn’s year is the longest of all the planets (that distinction belongs to Neptune). More orderly and more carefully fact-checked overviews of our universe and its exploration abound for readers with stars (or planets) in their eyes.
Leave this one on the launch pad.
(glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)