cover image Explore Comets and Asteroids! With 25 Great Projects

Explore Comets and Asteroids! With 25 Great Projects

Anita Yasuda, illus. by Bryan Stone. Nomad (IPG, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (96p) ISBN 978-1-61930-515-1

Opening with a nearly 70-million-year timeline of notable events involving comets and asteroids, this guidebook, part of the expansive Explore Your World! series, smoothly blends history and science. Amid comics-style illustrations featuring a young astronaut and her robot, Yasuda clearly explains key astronomical concepts. Readers are encouraged to use the scientific method while tackling some two dozen projects, which include making asteroid cookies, creating a “science scroll” to jot down observations as the “earliest sky watchers” did, and writing imaginary tweets from the New Horizons probe (“Comet 2014 MU69 has no atmosphere, but plenty of good vibes!” suggests the cartoon robot). A glossary and links to online resources round out a focused look at these celestial objects, which might spur some stargazing on readers’ parts. Ages 7–10. (July)