Blast Off!

Shelly Unwin

Ben Wood

Random House Australia, 2018

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9780143785040

Eight planets in the solar system.

spinning round and round.

Let’s climb aboard our rocket ship

and zoom off planet-bound.

Young readers can join two intrepid astronauts and their dog on this rollicking adventure around the solar system full of fun and laughter as well as facts.

Expecting to be able to fry up some bacon and eggs and make woofles, they discover “Mercury is mega-hot and closest to the sun.  You couldn’t visit Mercury, the heat would burn your bum.”

Combining clever, engaging text-in-rhyme with illustrations that add so much more to the adventure, as well as a chart at the bottom to show where each planet is in the scheme of things, this is a clever introduction to the solar system that will introduce our youngest readers to what is out there and whet their appetite to find out more. The journey back from Neptune contains more ‘formal’ facts about each planet including a brief explanation about why Pluto is no longer included as a planet.

A fun way to take a journey out of this world.