Mars Is: Stark Slopes, Silvery Snow, and Startling Surprises

Featuring mesmeric close-up photographs courtesy of NASA’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, this nonfiction picture book by NASA rocket engineer Slade offers rhythmic language interlaced with facts about Mars. Large monochrome type in a friendly rounded serif font guides readers through a simply worded tour of Mars. “Mars is buried bedrock// bubbling gas,// and mighty mesas,” Slade begins on the first three spreads, as concise smaller-font paragraphs expound on each proffered phrase: “the Martian caps contain dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) rather than water.” Textural full-color photos feature Mars’s exposed bedrock, ice channels created by bubbling gas, undulating sand dunes, and more. Though the book elides many details (e.g., the scale of each pictured element) in favor of a more poetic, aesthetic examination of Mars, this volume may still pique the interest of aspiring astronauts and young space hobbyists. Ages 6–10. (Apr.)