Non-fiction Monday: The Mighty Mars Rovers: the Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity
by Elizabeth Rusch. 80 p. Scientists in the Field series. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June, 2012. 9780547478814. (Purchased)
My love for this series is no secret. I'm not sure if my love of science is as evident. I was a nurse before embarking on my second career as school librarian,so I took a fair number of science classes in high school, nursing school and college. I definitely favored the sciences that didn't require math so I don't naturally gravitate to books on space or physics and can take chemistry in small bites. Hence, while I was nominally aware of the Mars rovers, the fifth graders at my school know more about space and space exploration than I.
This book got this physics-phobe to learn something about Mars exploration. No small feat, really. The text was simple, engaging and downright exciting, even knowing that the two rovers made it. As with all the books in the series, I loved the chapter that talks about childhood interests in robotics and geology, that sparked the passion in science in mission leader, Steve Squyres. The layout is clean and crisp. There are plenty of pleasing maps, artist's representations and photos as well as suggestions for further reading, which include websites, and a short glossary.