In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union redefined the word "planet" and relegated Pluto to the status of a dwarf planet, along with Ceres and Eris. Naturally, National Geographic is there to map out this new view of our solar system. In 11 Planets, David Aguilar, an expert who works on the leading edge of this astounding shift, explains and explores our new galactic knowledge.

I think this book used the same images of the gods that were in the old National Geographic "Our Universe" book when I was a kid. Eris is, of course, new, and her image is much more modern seeming, more like a cartoon.

The book was published in 2006, after Spirit and Opportunity were landed on Mars, but before Curiosity. It has many exciting illustrations of planets and some very odd sentences. One of the best parts is the solar system in a grocery bag metaphor. In this metaphor the sun is a grapefruit, Jupiter is a cherry tomato, Saturn is a grape, and the earth is about the size of a single grain of fancy raw sugar. Helpful for keeping in mind that, although the sun is big, Jupiter isn't trivial in comparison. ( )

This is a very informative text about the planets and space. It has a lot of text on each page that is packed with facts about the planets. I could suggest this for older students, maybe 5-9th grade, as each page has a lot of information to unpack. ( )