Pluto: A Dwarf Planet

First Facts: Solar System

by Ralph Winrich

Did you know that Pluto is now called a dwarf planet? Or that a spacecraft is headed there to explore it? Look inside to learn more about small, icy Pluto and its place in the solar system.

Genres: Childrens

24 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Allison Reilly]

Summary

Pluto is a book published before the planet was demoted to a dwarf planet. It begins by showing where Pluto is located in the solar system. Afterwards it talks about the size difference between Earth and Pluto with a scaled picture. It then goes into the makeup of the planet and whether or not life could survive.

Evaluation

I really liked this book, especially because it was in better times when Pluto was still a planet. :) This book is also great because of the vivid pictures included. The content is explained in a fun, child-friendly way. I believe students would really enjoy this book.

Teaching Point

I used this book when teaching about the Solar System before the solar eclipse. Pluto was used in conjunction with Pluto: A Dwarf Planet. We then compared and contrasted the two books. This is a great way to implement literary skills with science. We used a venn diagram to compare the two books.

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about Pluto was very informational. The pictures in the book are very good representation of the text. I know for children and reading about facts it can be boring and hard to comprehend, but seeing the pictures and being able to relate the text to the pictures helps. In the book they really show just how small Pluto really is kids can learn about space in a fun way. They learn that the planet is a dwarf planets and how they are to small to be actual planets. The book did a good job at expressing Pluto's size, Pluto's moons, features, and people and Pluto.

[Makaylia McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a table of contents that lays out the entire book for the student, it mentions what Pluto is, the size, moons, features, and how people and Pluto interact. The books ends with a glossary, more books you can read on the topic and internet sites that can be used for additional information.

[Amelina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good book for thing kids about the planets.

[Sarah G · Rating 2 out of 5]

The low rating is because this one is out of date--looks like there's an updated edition in which Pluto is properly identified as a dwarf planet.

[Allison Reilly]

Summary

This is a nonfiction book about Pluto being a dwarf planet. It begins by showing a large picture of the solar system and identifying where Pluto is located. Throughout the book it discusses Pluto's various attributes and what a dwarf planet is. It also discusses why Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet and what the difference between a planet and dwarf planet is.

Evaluation

This was a neat book! It has detailed a vivid pictures of Pluto and the solar system. It went in enough detail for children to enjoy it and learn, but not too much that it goes over their head. The book explains the facts well and is a fairly easy read with important vocabulary identified.

Teaching Point

I actually did use this book to teacher my resource kids about the solar system before the solar eclipse. They thought planets were really cool, and they wanted to learn more! I read the book to them and then allowed them to read the book to me. We explored the pictures and eventually modeled the solar system. If they had questions I could not answer, we would do research together to find the answer.