cover image If Pluto Was a Pea

If Pluto Was a Pea

Gabrielle Prendergast, illus. by Rebecca Gerlings. McElderry, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-5344-0435-9

In this informative and friendly story, two children—one with puffball pigtails, a gap-tooth smile, and a pair of moonboots; the other in a hipster sweater, striped trousers, and tousled hair—spend a night camping in a backyard. The girl enthusiastically reads from a book about space. Observing the stars around them, the two contemplate the relative sizes of the planetary bodies: “Pluto is much smaller than the other planets. That’s why it’s called a ‘Dwarf Planet.’ ” They use familiar objects as reference points to compare Pluto to the other planets (“If Pluto was a pea... Mercury would be a marble”), including measurements throughout. Outside, they find a scarecrow with a pumpkin head—compared to Pluto’s pea, “Saturn would be a pumpkin.” Prendergast and Gerlings capture the children’s sense of wonder and relatable quest for adventure—both in their camping excursion and curiosity about galaxies beyond. Ages 4–8. [em](Aug.) [/em]