Grade 1-3–Emergent readers who have swept through the solar system with Gail Gibbons or aboard the Magic School Bus may be tempted by these primers to revisit particular planets. The author starts each one off with a seven-item Word Hunt of science terms, then presents simplified facts-in-brief about a planet, plus one or two of its moons (if it has any), highlighting such major physical features as Saturn's rings and mentioning a relevant space probe, like Mariner 10–the only probe to visit Mercury, so far. A mix of colorful space photos and graphic images complements the large-type texts. Pluto is already out of date, as it gives that planet but one moon–but for collections in need of titles to bridge the gap between the picture-book tours and more extensive treatments, these make enticing invitations to further exploration.
