Pluto! Not a Planet? Not a Problem! By Stacy McAnulty & Illustrated by Stevie Lewis (2023)

Poor Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet. Stacy McAnulty takes us on a fun journey learning about Pluto in her narrative nonfiction picture book, “Pluto! Not a Planet? Not a Problem!” McAnulty has the most unique way of making nonfiction particularly fun and Stevie Lewis’ illustrations really make the cute-factor pop! McAnulty starts the book by referring to Pluto as a lost puppy and she continues making fun puppy references throughout the book. Her alliteration is on point. Kids love alliteration. Those silly, same sounds keep their ears tingling and wanting more. But, really it’s the hysterical jokes that draw you back to this book time and time again. My kids and I had a good chuckle over the line, “Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen with the naked eye. That means an eye without a telescope - and an eye without underwear!” Humor is one of the best ways to hook kids on learning. This recent release is one in a series of picture books McAnulty has written about space. I HIGHLY encourage you to check out all of the books. They are out of this world! :) 

Heart: Let’s be honest, there are a lot of heavy issues in the world right now. We feel it. The kids feel it. We can’t turn a blind eye to it, but we owe it to our kids, and ourselves, to laugh and find joy as often as possible. This book will bring you a few fun laughs. 

Head: Learn about space! Check out all of her other books in the series: Earth!, Sun!, Moon!, Ocean!, Mars! And Our Planet!