  | Little spacecraft that could : new Horizons' amazing journey to Pluto and Arrokoth Author: Lapin, Joyce | |
| Price: $21.86 | ||
Summary:
Ride along with the New Horizons spacecraft as she rockets three billion miles to Pluto! Watch her take the first close-up photos of Pluto, and then journey another billion miles to mini-world Arrokoth.
| Illustrator: | Ceccarelli, Simona |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (03/01/21)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 05/01/2021 Plucky underdog Pluto was the target of spaceship New Horizons, which launched in 2006 and flew by the planet in 2015. Lapin’s exciting, accessible STEM offering relates the pioneering journey in a two-part text. In the narrative portion, the odyssey is told by anthropomorphizing the ship (“[New Horizons] was a brave name, the spacecraft thought”), while accompanying sidebars provide nonfiction discussions of Pluto and its environs, the solar system generally, and the scientific side of the mission. Ceccarelli’s clear, colorful images are helpfully labeled, and the spacecraft herself is depicted realistically, except for the drawn-on facial expressions and cartoonish arms. Though sometimes the art is more decorative than informative, the twilight space backgrounds and entertainingly animated spacecraft are quite engaging. Pluto's demotion to a dwarf planet is mentioned, as well as disagreements among the scientific community about its status—a valuable lesson for science classrooms. Helpful back matter includes a detailed time line of the voyage, a robust glossary, and a list of websites where students can see videos of the spacecraft. Playful science for space-loving kids. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
