Lunar Lunch? There Was An Old Astronaut That Swallowed the Moon by Lucille Colandro

THERE WAS AN OLD ASTRONAUT WHO SWALLOWED THE MOON.

I DON'T KNOW WHY SHE SWALLOWED THE MOON. IT HAPPENED AT NOON.

Take a break, Old Lady. There's a Temp Lady who munches merrily on the moon, and we're off on a selective tour of the solar system.

The Old Astronaut chomps a comet which looks like an omelet. In turn on the menu are a meteoroid that morphs into a meteorite on impact, and then a planet in orbit and a rocket is on the diet docket....

And for dessert...

... SHE SWALLOWED A SATELLITE...

IT WENT DOWN JUST RIGHT, THAT BRIGHT SATELLITE.

In a slight dietary deviation from her usual terrestrial tastings, Lucille Colandro's famous Old Lady snacks in space in her latest spoof of the famous folksong, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly-- There Was An Old Astronaut Who Swallowed the Moon! (There Was an Old Lady [Colandro]) (Cartwheel/Scholastic Books, 2019).

With her familiar rollicking rhymes and Jared Lee's trademark scratchy-lined comic illustrations, this latest in Colandro's jolly series also includes a handy space glossary, making this gustatory read-and-sing-along song a handy introduction or review of terms for a classroom unit on the solar system. Colandro also offers an appetizer in the form of search-and-find quiz for kids to spot space objects included in Lee's busy illustrations--a fun ragout of entertaining reading and science learning.

Stink Far Out: Stink: Solar System Superhero by Megan McDonald

Flub! Flop! Flunk!

Stink Moody had to take a test.

A SCIENCE TEST. A SOLAR SYSTEM test! He had to learn all the planets--by tomorrow!

Stink went to find his big sister. He sure hoped Judy wasn't in a mood.

If Judy was in a mood, Stink hoped it was a help-you-little-brother-study-for-his-test mood.

No sweat for Stink. Judy gives him the keyword: PIZZA! "My Very Eccentric Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas," she explains. Each word begins with the first letter of the planets in order outward from the sun, from Mercury to Pluto. "It's a mnemonic device," Dad adds. Stink knows he's going to ace that test!

But when he gets his test paper back, there's a big red X right next to Pluto, while his know-it-all classmate Riley Rottenberger smirks "It's a dwarf planet. Everybody know Pluto isn't a planet anymore," she insists, pointing to her Space Camp t-shirt which says "PLUTO IS DEAD."

To head off a free-for-all argument over the status of Pluto, Stink's teacher takes a vote to see how many classmates are Pluto fans. When a sizable number raise their hands, she wisely declares that there will be a presentation by both camps. Riley, of course, heads the the KPBs (Kick Plutos (er) Behind) team and Stink leads Captain Pluto and the Underdogs. Stink researches the criteria for planetdom and with his "Make Your Own Bumper Sticker" kit, prints out a bunch of magnetic "Honk If You Love Pluto" signs, even affixing one to his teacher's little blue Mini's bumper. Stink's presentation carries the vote, and even Riley admits to feeling a little sorry for poor Pluto, kicked out of his group.

"Any friend of Pluto's is a friend of mine!" Stink says.

There's no better way to introduce a primary science unit on the solar system than with a reading of Megan McDonald's newest addition to the Stink Moody series, Stink: Solar System Superhero (Book #5) (Candlewick, 2010). Younger brother Stink is the perfect foil to moody Judy, ever ebullient and ready to throw himself into any venture headlong, even if it takes him to the darkest reaches of outer space where the dwarf planets dwell. Peter Reynolds' clever line drawings are virtually inseparable from this wonderful series of beginning chapter fiction, and this Stink story is far-out fun.