Nearest to the Sun: The Planet Mercury

by Nancy Loewen, Jeffrey Yesh (Illustrator)

Overview

Mercury is the smallest planet, but it has the biggest craters, the biggest temperature swings, and the biggest sunrises in the solar system. Explore the planet's many wonders in this book about Mercury.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781543595802
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	05/01/2019
Series:	Amazing Science: Planets
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	24
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 10 Years

About the Author

Nancy Loewen writes fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults. Recent awards include: 2012 Minnesota Book Awards finalist (The LAST Day of Kindergarten); 2011 Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year (Share a Scare: Writing Your Own Scary Story); 2011 Book of Note, Tri-State Young Adult Review Committee (Stubborn as a Mule and Other Silly Similes); and 2010 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers (Writer's Toolbox Series). She's also received awards from The American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Independent Book Publishers Association, and the Society of School Librarians International. Nancy holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University, St. Paul. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two teenage children.

Table of Contents

A Strange Sunrise     4
The Fastest Planet     6
Spinning Slowly     8
A Bare Planet     10
Hot and Cold     12
The Smallest Planet     14
Crater City     16
A Big Hole     18
Much to Discover     20
Making Craters     22
Fun Facts     23
Glossary     23
To Learn More     24
Index     24

Editorial Reviews

With its large square pages and poster-bright pictures, the “Amazing Science: Planet” series is designed to have maximum visual appeal for young space explorers. It largely succeeds, presenting quite a bit of information about each planet in nine double-page spreads (liberally sprinkled with “Fun Facts” boxes) that show sizes, composition, surfaces, orbits, rotations, and something about each planet’s exploration. Readers are introduced to Mercury through an imaginary sunrise on that planet. The sunrise is very erratic because it is so close to the sun. Through both pictures and text, the book explains Mercury’s slow rotation and fast orbit, its extraordinary range of temperatures, and its deeply cratered surface. While this smallest planet is hard to observe because of its position, kids will learn that one spacecraft flew by it in the 1970s and a new one, MESSENGER, is scheduled to orbit it in 2011. Suggesting flat acrylic paintings, Yesh’s illustrations are actually created through digital media. Though not realistic in style, their brilliant colors on dark backgrounds make them eye-catching, often glowing, and sometimes action-filled, as in a depiction of Mercury’s huge Caloris Basin being formed. Loewen provides directions for a simple science project that involves making craters by using a rubber ball and trays of sand or flour. Included are a glossary, a short bibliography of children’s books about the planet, and a few more facts about Mercury, such as that it does not have any moons. This lively series should be fun for budding astronomers; who knows, it might even inspire some planetary poetry or astronomical art.

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