Editorial Review

Kids curious about the universe of space objects beyond our eight local planets and sun will appreciate this title in the Blast Off to Space series (8 titles). The book opens with the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris, which led scientists to establish new criteria for classifying planets, and those rules ultimately downgraded Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. From there, the book goes on to profile several other dwarf planets, mostly in the Kuiper belt, with large, full-color labeled photos and illustrations of planets breaking up the straightforward text. Though none of the dwarf planets’ descriptions are very in-depth, the author emphasizes that these space objects are still quite unknown—a strong reminder that there’s always more to discover in the universe. Hand to kids fascinated by the mysteries of space.