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Monday, August 10, 2020

Mars' First Friends: Come on Over, Rovers, written by Susanna Leonard Hill and illustrated by Elisa Paganelli. Sourcebooks, Raincoast. 2020. $23.99 ages 5 and up

"Disappointed but determined, Mars
headed for Jupiter. "How about a little hide-and-seek?" he asked.

But Jupiter was too busy juggling his many moons. He just didn't have time.

Mars had high hopes for a game with Earth."

In this new book by the team who brought us yesterday's featured book, Mars is yearning to find a friend in his solar very own solar system. Although there are seven other planets, not one of them is interested in enjoying adventures with the fiery-red fourth planet. Loneliness has set in; Mars asks for advice from his father, the Sun.

All Mars wants is a pet - not Pluto whose time is already divided between Neptune and Uranus. The Sun wonders if Mars can handle the responsibility that being a pet owner requires. He sends him off to play with the other planets. Reluctantly, Mars takes his father's advice; they are all too busy with their own pursuits to pay attention to Mars' requests.

It is quite the surprise for Mars to see two small spacecrafts heading into his atmosphere.

"Then the pieces that had kept
them safe and snug for millions of
miles dropped away in stages.

As the crafts' parachutes popped
out to slow them for landing, Mars
wondered what they could be."

Both rovers drop down onto Mars' surface. Could they be the pets he has wanted? Spirit and Opportunity love everything about the red planet; Mars loves everything about them. What fun to have company! Perhaps there will be more.

Once again, Ms. Paganelli has created characters with big smiles and expressive faces, nearly accurate for comparative size and color. In back matter, readers will learn about the solar system, with additional information about Mars itself. Following that there is a description of the Mars Rover program, present and perhaps future.

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