Max Goes to Mars: A science adventure with Max the dog

In this somewhat silly read-aloud book, Max the dog goes to visit Mars.  This is a fun off-season/read-at-home opportunity for FLL Jr teams, but probably not as high priority as the books focusing on humans and robots.

Title: Max Goes to Mars: A science adventure with Max the dog
Author: Jeffrey Bennett
ISBN: 0-9721819-1-1

This is a cute read-aloud book for younger kids, part of a series that includes Max the Rottweiler's visits to Mars, the Moon, a space station, and Jupiter.  My five year old loved it, so the others are probably in my future as well.

Nearly every page has a panel with smaller text that seems to be targeting adults or much older reader.  Although my five year old loves the story, she has no interest in these panels, which is too bad, because that's where the explanations of the science are.  For instance, the communications gap is only dealt with in the panels.  The story itself implies that a video call would make sense.

The story is cute, although a bit silly in spots.  (Max's space suit allows him to smell things?  Um, ok.  It's a bit hard to imagine a plan that brings a 100 pound Rottweiler to Mars, in lieu of more scientific equipment.  The silliness is acknowledged in the side panels, and while its possible that space explorers might bring an animal for companionship, a house cat seems more likely than a Rottweiler.)

This is a fun off-season/read-at-home opportunity for FLL Jr teams, but probably not as high priority as the books focusing on humans and robots.

The book has a Lexile of NC1120L, which probably reflects the more complicated writing in the side panels.

Update:  You can see the Max books read on the ISS, via "Story Time from Space"!   How totally awesome is that?

• Max goes to Mars
• Max goes to the International Space Station
• Max goes to Jupiter
• Max goes to the Moon

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