There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)

The perfect first space book for those almost-readers, There’s No Place Like Space takes us on a whirlwind tour of our solar system, with a few constellations thrown in for good measure. Cat in the Hat (along with beloved Thing One and Thing Two) straps on his space suit and rhymes his way among the nine planets, presenting important facts along the way. Where else could your preschooler learn phonics and astronomy at same time? “A planet can have satellites that surround it. Uranus has lots of these objects around it” is just one example. This is a fine addition to the library of any young stargazer–few books are written with this many facts furnished in such an easy-reading manner. (Preschool to early reader) –Jill Lightner

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Fans of Dr. Seuss’s favorite feline will enjoy learning through rhymed couplets and cartoonlike illustrations similar to the originals. Each book combines basic facts with interesting trivia to introduce readers to topics that are sure to be of interest. From Bugs: “Here is a riddle/I learned from my mother./How’s a skunk and a ladybug/like one another?/When danger is near,/it is easy to tell-/they suddenly give off/a terrible smell!” While the grammar is off, Seussian rhyme is rarely totally correct (“thunk”). In Space, readers learn, “On Venus the weather/is always the same-/hot, dry, and windy,/with no chance of rain.” The familiar format and entertaining text are sure to appeal to beginning readers.
Maura Bresnahan, Shawsheen School, Andover, MA
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