How to Make a Planet: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building the Earth

Forbes offers a faux guide to creating a planet, with the second-person narration letting readers know exactly what they’ll need, starting with “a really, really Big Bang” (“it has to be so strong that it will go on for billions of billions of years,” he adds helpfully). Through this frame, Forbes enthusiastically describes the formation of atmosphere around Earth, followed by oceans, and the first stirrings of life: “the bacteria were primitive and nothing much to look at (even through a microscope), but they were alive!” It’s an expansive topic, but tightly narrated paragraphs, lighthearted humor, and Camden’s cartoon illustrations (including a boy in a red T-shirt who stands in for readers) keep it within reach. Ages 8–12. (Mar.)