Little Bookworm Rating: 5/5 Stars
“Mars’ First Friends” by Susanna Leonard Hill and Elisa Paganelli tells the story of Mars, the lonely planet that just wants to play with someone. All of Mars’ brothers and sisters are busy so Mars decides to ask for a pet. What kind of pet will Mars get? Will the planet be lonely or finally find a friend to play with?
This book checks all the right boxes in regards to children’s fiction. It has a cute plot, adorable illustrations and a great message along with educational information on the final frontier, space! We have five year old children at home that had just learned about the planets, so this book fell into our hands at the perfect time! Our kids were able to follow along with the story and lit up when they saw the familiar characters like Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune. The kids loved Pluto and how the dwarf planet was written as a pet for Neptune and Uranus. This book stimulated some great conversations about STEM topics, Space Exploration and so much more! The bonus section in the back with information on the Mars’ rovers and NASA was excellent as well.
Recommendations: If your children haven’t learned about space yet, it would be a good idea to talk about the different planets before reading this, that way the kids will be more engaged. Also, the book would make a great choice for a space themed story time!
Literature & Lattes 