Space Blog. (Crabtree Connections). Angela Royston. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $9.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9931-3 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9910-8 (RLB). Subject Headings: Space flight-Anecdotes-Juvenile literature. Outer space-Exploration-Anecdotes-Juvenile literature. Manned space flights-Anecdotes-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-4 / Ages 7-9. Review by Gloria McGiffen. **** /4

excerpt:

Data Update: To leave Earth, a spacecraft has to escape the force of gravity, the pull that exists between any two objects. Large objects, such as Earth, exert a stronger pull than small objects. The Sun is so immense, the pull of its gravity keeps the planets in orbit around it.

Via 13 two-page chapters, Space Blog takes readers on a journey through the solar system, including the Sun, Earth's Moon, Jupiter and Saturn's Moon's, plus travel into space through the asteroids. The objective of this book is to update readers on the new and recent discoveries concerning space and space travel. Such information is in high demand due to the constant changes and new discoveries in our solar system and the universe. To help visualize where the planet is situated in the solar system, each chapter has a diagram of the solar system and the planet's name is highlighted underneath for easy recognition. The author, Angela Royston, has given credibility to her work by using the NASA space agency as being a source from where her information was accumulated. Using current information, Royston provides a good explanation of the status change of Pluto in 2006:

Data Update: Pluto is part of the Kuiper Belt, thousands of extremely cold rocks that orbit the most distant part of the solar system. Pluto's classification as a planet was changed to a dwarf planet in 2006, when the Hubble space telescope spotted larger, more distant rocks in the Kuiper Belt.

     Space Blog has a good flow of information with fun quick facts throughout. The page layout is easy to understand with lots of incredible photo shots throughout from the Hubble space telescope and from the NASA Space Center. The bold-faced text words found in the book are words found in the glossary at the end of the book.

      Space Blog, which also provides website links to games, activities and more information, is a great read for students who prefer to read nonfiction over fiction. It is a book that should be purchased for any middle school or public library.

Highly Recommended.

Gloria McGiffen is a Librarian 1 at St. Gabriel the Archangel School in Chestermere, AB.

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