Max Goes to Jupiter: A Science Adventure with Max the Dog (Science Adventures with Max the Dog series)
Grade 3–4—A small human crew and a rambunctious rottweiler ride out to the Jovian system to drop off a pair of probes and to step onto the surfaces of the moons Io and Europa. Teaching values as well as astronomy, the authors intersperse discussions of the discovery and nature of Jupiter and its satellites with remarks about selfish people, international cooperation, and the necessity of caring for our own planet. The scientific and technological details are realistic, but the plot is so slight and the characters so sketchy that, like the dog bounding around various painted extraterrestrial locales in his jointed metal vacuum suit, they're more of a distraction than an enhancement. Consider this outing only after choosing among the plethora of conventional informational treatments of our solar system's second-largest member, such as Adele Richardson'sJupiter(Capstone) or Elaine Landau'sJupiter(Children's Press, both 2007).—John Peters, New York Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.