Have you ever read a book from a series that wasn’t the first, and then immediately felt the need to go back and read the first one? That’s what happened to me after reading AstroNuts (Mission Two: The Water Planet) by Jon Scieszka. This is the second in this series that is all about the adventures of four superpowered animal astronauts who are on a mission to find a “just right” planet for humans to move to (since you know, we’re not doing a great job of taking care of the planet we’re actually on).

I felt like this book did an awesome job of being engaging for readers and educating them at the same time. Not only did I learn about why using the scientific method is important, but I also learned what happens when the oceans are not taken care of like they should be. All of this while enjoying the antics of the unsuspecting, scatterbrained AstroNuts. As the narrator tells us, “…the Water Planet…did turn out to be a good lesson on how to take care of a planet…and how to take care of your friends”.

When I first read this book, my son had just finished working on a project about the world’s water crisis in school, and I thought this book could’ve been perfectly paired with their unit, especially for those readers who were really into the topic. So in addition to being a great addition to any sort of Earth Day-type unit, I can easily see this series being enjoyed by all young readers in 3rd through 5th grades. AstroNuts (Mission Two: The Water Planet), by Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg was released in August of 2020. (And as as side note, I did go and find the e-book of book 1 of this series after I finished.)

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Deana Metzke, in addition to being a wife and mother of two, spent many years as a Literacy Coach, and is now an Elementary Teacher Instructional Leader for Literacy and Social Studies for her school district. In addition to occasionally sharing her thoughts here at MG Book Village, you can read more of her thoughts about kid lit and trying to raise children who are readers at raisingreaders.site or follow her on Twitter @DMetzke. She is also a member of #bookexcursion.