Are you Team Pluto is a Planet or Team Pluto is a Dwarf planet? Me? Planet all the way! But it does not matter which way you tilt, you will find that Pluto is still really awesome in the picture book Pluto!: Not a Planet? Not a Problem! by Stacy McAnulty. Things are upbeat, bouncy and give all the facts with some fun attached as well. Part of McAnulty’s Our Universe series, Pluto is proud to say, “Who cares if you don’t think me a planet! I am awesome!”
Stevie Lewis’s signature cute styled (or at least for the ones they have done for the Our Universe set) illustrations fill the book. Things are colorful, but set in space. The feeling I had was part, you are actually in space with the universal planets, stars, etc., having a conversation and watching this on film, as you are cozy here on Earth, listening to our buddy Pluto. There is the “dog ears” that were a bit heavy-handed and done a bit too much for my personal tastes, but it does keep things light.
Overall, this is a good book for several ages. However, preschoolers would be able to look at images, but might not grasp the concepts. The best age is probably kindergarten to about lower second grade. It could work as a read-aloud, but with a class studying planets and/or the universe. Though the book is currently available, this was read via an online reader copy. And you can also get two Earths (one in space, one on planet), one sun, one moon, one Mars and one Ocean as well.
