By Suzanne Slade
Peachtree Publishing, 2021
With stunning NASA images, Mars Is ...is beautiful enough to be a coffee table book!
It's much more than that, however. Each image is accompanied by a simple explanation in huge font (no more than a few words per page), as well as a detailed description, making it perfect for sharing with the suggested age range of 6-10, as well as with a younger audience. Many times we are awed by the beauty of photos from space, but have no frame of reference for what we see. Slade's text helps the reader put the photos into context through explanation and comparison.
One double-spread photo might otherwise be mistaken for an Earthly shoreline or volcanic ridge. Large font text announces, "Mars is steep cliffs," while the smaller text explains that this is an image of the Krupac Crater—highlighting the huge gullies running down its inner slope, and noting that it is a young crater, as evidenced by the exposed Martian bedrock.
The final pages include information (and photos) about Mars missions, the HiRISE camera used to photograph Mars, and a timeline of Mars exploration.
With the recent landing of NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars, there is no better time for a book like this. Leave it lying around and it will attract readers of all ages.
Read an excerpt of Mars Is here.
My copy of Mars Is was provided by the publisher.
