Author: Loreen Leedy and Andrew Schuerger

Illustrator: Loreen Leedy

Publisher: Holiday House

Cost: $16.95

Ages: 4 to 8

It’s the year 2106 and five students and a “hoverbot”, K27, are on their way to Mars with Dr. Fara Lucas. As they travel, the team sends electronic postcards to friends and family back on Earth. Through the messages, we get a kid’s-eye-view of the Red Planet. We learn about the geography of Mars and the history of exploration. For instance, Yong writes home announcing to his brother that the spacejet has successfully landed at the same spot the Viking 1 lander set down in 1976. Photographs from NASA and illustrations enhance the text.

Reviewer:
Ethan Urbankiewicz,
age 7

This book was colourful, and I liked the photographs. I liked how the kids sent messages with cool facts about Mars. I learned Olympus Mons is the biggest volcano in the solar system. It is three times taller than Mount Everest! I also learned that if you weigh 100 kg on Earth, you would only weigh 38 kg on Mars! I had fun reading this book, and I wouldn’t change anything. I would give this book a 10 out of 10. It was awesome.