Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid vs. Comet

 
4.5 (2)
 
0.0 (0)
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Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid vs. Comet
Co-Authors / Illustrators
Age Range
8+
Release Date
April 30, 2024
ISBN
978-1536236637
Buy This Book
      
What happens when two massive hunks of hurtling space debris slam into each other? Welcome to round one in the Cosmic Collisions series—an exciting children’s debut from an expert astrophysicist.

There’s a comet speeding in from the outer solar system, and it’s about to slam into an asteroid. Who will be left standing after this interplanetary smackdown? The pockmarked asteroid, a veteran fighter who’s already seen some action? Or the dazzling comet, with its incredible velocity and a tail that stretches millions of miles? Kicking off a dynamic series on cosmic collisions, Asteroid vs. Comet starts by comparing the two opponents, then offers hints and context to encourage readers to use real science to form a hypothesis. Action-packed full-color illustrations with a graphic, comic-book feel will attract reluctant readers and kids who love smash-and-crash, along with budding scientists. Curious readers can find back matter addressing the question of fact versus fiction, how to become a citizen scientist, and comets and asteroids in the news.

Editor reviews

2 reviews
Let's Get Ready to Rumble!
Overall rating
 
4.7
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
5.0
Learning Value
 
5.0
Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid Vs. Comet presented introductory information about Comets and Asteroids through a mock collision scenario. The wrestling match presenter tone of the text made it an engaging nonfiction read for Middle-Grade readers. This book has great illustrations that make the information easy to visualize. The text did a back-and-forth presentation of facts between an asteroid and a comet that got to be a bit confusing if you do not have a good grasp on the differences between the two. I think for beginning learners’ information about this topic it would have been easier to understand if it had been presented with one and then the other before they had their mock collision. Overall, the tone was engaging and made for page-turning excitement to see which would win in a collision. It had good information about both astral events and was geared toward the target audience.
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Scientific Space Shenanigans
Overall rating
 
4.3
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
4.0
Learning Value
 
5.0
Can we live on Mars? Is Pluto a planet? Star Wars vs. Star Trek? There's no shortage of geeky, space related questions that tweens readers can ponder, and Asteroid vs. Comet offers new opportunities for scientific thinking. In order to really calculate things properly, we first meet both an asteroid, in the Asteroid Belt, and a comet, in the Oort Cloud. We find out that while asteroids are hot, comets are cold, and learn the speeds, weights, and composition of the competing bodies. The two rarely collide, but this is a fun speculation.

This is not quite a comic book (although it is a comet book!), but a nicely sized nonfiction book with lots of illustrations. Each topic is approached with a page from both the asteroid and the comet point of view, and the text is very readable. Words and ideas are nicely explained, and I was able to understand the scientific concepts. There is definitely an air of suspense in this, which is hard to create in a science related nonfiction book, and I won't ruing the ending and tell you who survived the hypothetical collision!

Good Points
While some young readers love nonfiction and don't want to read anything else, it can be a challenge to get some readers to pick up books with facts. This is a perfect length, and is highly engaging. The pictures help, and I can see this being a book that I can recommend to my students who need to include some science themed nonfiction books in the mix, even if they aren't wanting to pick them up.

I love when young readers have specific interests, and space is a topic that frequently sparks readers to search for information. Regas' 1,000 Facts About Space Aldrin and Dyson's Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet, Lowery's Everything Awesome About Space and Other Galactic Facts!, McAnulty's Where Are the Aliens, and Drimmer's Can't Get Enough Space Stuff.
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