Pluto Gets the Call

by Adam Rex, Laurie Keller (Illustrator)

Overview

Pluto gets a call from Earth telling him he isn’t a planet anymore, so he sets out on a journey through the solar system to find out why in this funny and fact-filled romp that’s perfect for fans of The Scrambled States of America.

Pluto loves being a planet. That is, until the day he gets a call from some Earth scientists telling him he isn’t a planet anymore! You probably wanted to meet a real planet, huh? So, Pluto takes the reader on a hilarious and informative journey through the solar system to introduce the other planets and commiserate about his situation along the way. Younger readers will be so busy laughing over Pluto’s interactions with the other planets, asteroids, moons, and even the sun, they won’t even realize just how much they’re learning about our solar system!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534414532
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	11/12/2019
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	342,902
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Adam Rex is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. His other books include The True Meaning of Smekday, which was made into the hit animated movie Home; Moonday; and School’s First Day of School, illustrated by Christian Robinson. He also illustrated the Brixton Brothers series, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, Chloe and the Lion, and How This Book Was Made, all by Mac Barnett, and Chu’s Day, by Neil Gaiman. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. Visit him at AdamRex.com or follow him on Twitter @MrAdamRex.

Laurie Keller is the acclaimed author-illustrator of Do Unto Otters; Arnie, the Doughnut; The Scrambled States of America; and Open Wide: Tooth School Inside, among numerous others. She grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and always loved to draw, paint and write stories. She earned a BFA at Kendall College of Art and Design, then worked at Hallmark as a greeting card illustrator for seven-and-a-half years, until one night she got an idea for a children’s book. She quit her job, moved to New York City, and soon had published her first book. She loved living in New York, but she has now returned to her home state, where she lives in a little cottage in the woods on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2019

Mid-conversation with the reader (“So, not to brag, but I’m mostly made of nitrogen”), Pluto picks up the phone. “Some scientists from Earth,” seen arguing on the title page (“NO WAY! I’m not calling him”), have disappointing news for the former planet. Devastated and wearing his heart on his surface, he goes on a tour of the solar system to commiserate about his demotion to an ice dwarf. Along the way, Rex (Why?) provides lighthearted tidbits about asteroids, plutoids, and planets as Pluto introduces readers to everyone from “gassy” Neptune (“I’m not being mean, he just is”) all the way to the smallest (“And, dare I say, the cutest?”) planet, Mercury. Keller (Potato Pants!)—who knows her way around misunderstood inanimate objects—sets a silly mood with emoji-like mixed-media collages of lively planets who break the fourth wall to joke with the reader. Easily navigable, panel-less comics introduce an upbeat Saturn, a grouchy Jupiter (“Stop staring at my red spot!”), and a reassuring sun who reminds Pluto that he’s a beloved entity, no matter his status. Dynamic galactic characters and the tongue-in-cheek astronomy lesson should amuse. Ages 3–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2019

K-Gr 3—This informational picture book takes readers on an imaginative journey through the universe. Pluto, a small and good-natured fellow, receives a call with disheartening news. Scientists from Earth inform him that he is no longer a planet; from now on, he will be considered the solar systems's largest ice dwarf. Pluto cannot believe it! He decides to show readers around, introducing each planet and their unique features. Rex's humorous narrative matches factual data with a jocose plot. Readers will learn about the Kuiper Belt, the Asteroid Belt, ice giants, Saturn's rings, and Jupiter's Great Red Spot, among other facts. Keller's illustrations delineate thei planets' fictional personalities with expressive gestures that enhance the whimsical text. This creative picture book could be used in a read-along activity for a second grade science unit covering the solar system, or in a storytime about self-acceptance and individual differences. VERDICT An ingenuously funny informational picture books that will captivate young students while teaching facts about the planets of the solar system. The back matter contains fun facts and a note from the author.—Kathia Ibacache, Simi Valley Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

2019-08-12
Heart (-shaped surface feature) literally broken by its demotion from planet status, Pluto glumly conducts readers on a tour of the solar system.

You'd be bummed, too. Angrily rejecting the suggestions of "mean scientists" from Earth that "ice dwarf" or "plutoid" might serve as well ("Would you like to be called humanoid?"), Pluto drifts out of the Kuiper Belt to lead readers past the so-called "real" planets in succession. All sport faces with googly eyes in Keller's bright illustrations, and distinct personalities, too—but also actual physical characteristics ("Neptune is pretty icy. And gassy. I'm not being mean, he just is") that are supplemented by pages of "fun facts" at the end. Having fended off Saturn's flirtation, endured Jupiter's stormy reception ("Keep OFF THE GAS!") and relentless mockery from the asteroids, and given Earth the cold shoulder, Pluto at last takes the sympathetic suggestion of Venus and Mercury to talk to the Sun. "She's pretty bright." A (what else?) warm welcome, plus our local star's comforting reminders that every celestial body is unique (though "people talk about Uranus for reasons I don't really want to get into"), and anyway, scientists are still arguing the matter because that's what "science" is all about, mend Pluto's heart at last: "Whatever I'm called, I'll always be PLUTO!"

Hurray for the underdog. (afterword) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews