Amazon.com Review
Five minutes with this book, and no one will be able to say they "don't know much about the solar system." Chock-full of facts, questions, and answers about the sun, gravity, planets, astronauts, space exploration, asteroids, the moon, and so much more, Kenneth C. Davis's
Don't Know Much About the Solar System is a terrific resource for anyone interested in what's out there. Geared toward readers aged 6 to 9, the book uses a fun question-and-answer format, as well as riddles and humorous illustrations by Pedro Martin, to make learning about the solar system a positively sunny experience. Young readers discover why the moon is different shapes on different nights, which planets (besides Saturn) have rings, what's beyond the Milky Way, and why, if the earth is round, people on the other side don't fall off.
Davis, author of the bestselling Don't Know Much About History, has turned to a younger audience with his Don't Know Much About series. Don't Know Much About the 50 States is a great companion to the solar system title, while Don't Know Much About Planet Earth and Don't Know Much About Space work well for older readers. (Ages 6 to 9) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
Gr 3-5-The author of the popular "Don't Know Much about" series for adults and Don't Know Much about Space (HarperCollins, 2001) for middle readers goes after a somewhat younger audience here. Many of the facts are recycled, but the writing and art are all new, and the title doesn't reflect the book's scope. Davis covers the solar system's components, stars, constellations, galaxies, and space travel, too. Not in much depth, of course: with one to three questions per page and a several-sentence answer for each one, the intent here is plainly to spark interest in a topic, rather than lay out a systematic picture. The tone is anything but earnest; Davis sprinkles his tour with lame jokes ("What planets are the saddest? Answer: Uranus and Neptune-they're always blue!"), and Hallmark-artist Martin chimes in with plenty of lighthearted cartoon illustrations featuring wisecracking celestial bodies with faces and young explorers in space suits. Except that Galileo is wrongly credited with "proving" Copernicus's heliocentric theory, the information is accurate, as far as it goes, and budding astronomers ready to expand their view of the high frontier even further will find a generous selection of Web-site addresses at the end. Though this tour is but one in a crowd, its combination of visual appeal and lively exposition should attract and hold even less able or interested readers.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
