Every volume of Science Comics is terrific! The Solar System volume is just as informative as the other Science Comics, and expands our thoughts beyond what we see in everyday life. Extremely educational as well as interesting and fun -- it is perfect! I can't wait to read more of them!

Though the frame story for this volume of the Science Comics series was a bit bizarre, it does work and there is so much amazing information in this volume, such that the bizarreness is not a detriment to the information (and to be fair, the kids at my library seem to enjoy a good bit of bizareness). Mosco was previously known to me for her the bind-up of her webcomic Bird and Moon, Birding is My Favorite Video Game, which has circulated fairly well in my library. I am a huge believer in the Science Comics line and this is another excellent addition to that line.

As always, the Science Comics series is engaging, interesting, and eye catching. My students will devour this one about the solar system as much as any of the other books in this wonderful series.

Think of this book as a more modern Magic School Bus. It takes the form of a girl telling her friend a story about space exploration, so we have interesting characters and a small measure of drama. More importantly, the facts abound.

I love the Science Comics series and this Solar System graphic novel is no exception. This is well worth the read for anyone who love science or learning about space!

The Science Comics series are full of information that is digestible and and manageable for students. In a time where students love graphic novels, this book is excellent for reaching the students who enjoy books with more graphics. This book would be excellent for teaching students about the solar system and/or having students research the solar system while keeping the reading fun and engaging.

This was a great overview of the solar system, full of planets, moons, asteroids and the like. It was quite basic, but I think it was enough to whet the appetites of young readers new to the subject. I liked the premise - two friends making up a story of their four pets exploring space together - and hilarity ensued as the hamster was always scared, the cat is frequently sleeping, etc. Enjoyable, and educational :)

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

I am always delighted to read a Science Comics book – I learn SO much while reading a comic book ☺. This title – Science Comics: Solar System: Our Place in Space is well written and illustrated. From the forward I found the following, which peaked my interest”

“The Solar System isn’t just weirder than we imagined, but (to borrow a phrase from the scientist J.B.S. Haldane), it’s weirder than we could imagine.”

“The Universe is like a puzzle spread out across the sky, and who could ever face a puzzle like that and not want to try to get the pieces to fit? That’s what scientists do, and when we do it, we find that there are more pieces to play with, more places to discover, and more ideas to understand. The universal puzzle is one that never ends. The more you explore, the more there is to explore.”

Sara is home with a cold and her friend Jill comes to visit. In an effort to alleviate Sara’s boredom, Jill suggests reading about the solar system. To make the activity interesting and fun, Jill and Sara create their very own spaceship, the Unbored. The crew is made up of the girl’s pets: Sara’s dog – Captain Riley the loyal space hound, Sara’s hamster – Engineer Fortinbras the handy hamster, Jill’s cat – Commander Pepper the cosmic kitty, Jill’s snake – Science Officer Slithers the smart space serpent.

At the beginning of the mission – they head for the sun. Along the way, creation of the solar system is discussed. All the dialogue is between the pets. I found the explanations easy to understand and entertaining at the same time. Gravity is defined in a manner that is understandable… and fun ☺

I found the layers of the sun section was very informative without being overwhelming to the reader. The Sun: A Report was written to describe what was learned by the crew to send back to Sara. I fact, after each planet a report was sent back to Sara outlining the most striking pieces of information regarding that particular planet.

The humour was also evident throughout. For example while exploring Mercury:

“Crew, I think we should land on this planet and explore.

Suit up and head to the shuttle.

Right. Let’s have a sniff around.

Hmmm. Sniffing does not seem to work in space suits.”

I really found there was just the right amount of detail for each planet, explained in a manner that is understandable and interesting. I particularly found it interesting that:

“Neptune has a dozen known moons, but Triton is the biggest and most amazing. Unlike any other moon in the Solar System, it orbits in the opposite direction of the planet’s spin.”

Enthusiplasma was the fuel that kept the journey to all the planets going. Essentially the journey was fuelled by Sara’s interest and enthusiasm about the solar system. As the journey progressed, my enthusiasm also increased.

I think anyone wanting a basic introduction to the solar system will enjoy this book. It is presented in a fun, factual manner with interesting characters. A great, entertaining way for children (and adults) to learn about our solar system.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

This comic book is well illustrated, but that's as far as my appreciation goes for this one. Anyone who believes in God and teaches their children to follow the Bible (not the big bang theory) will not want to share this with their children. I appreciate the opportunity but this is not for me or my family.

Solar System: Our Place in Space, written by Rosemary Mosco and illustrated by John Chad, is another grand installment of the Science Comics series and is currently scheduled for release on September 18 2018. In this book readers start with a Big Bang and learn about space and the solar system in this volume of Science Comics, an action-packed nonfiction graphic novel series for middle-grade readers!

Solar System: Our Place in Space is another addition to the Science comic series. I still like the combination of amusing story and science information. The set up story of a friend trying to entertain a sick and home bound friend with a story that also teaches them about space is good. The information included is well paced and interesting. However, I did not enjoy this one as much as I have some of the others. I liked the set up and the ideas. I just could not get as engaged with the space exploration story as much as I did the story in the Brain or Bats books. The art does a good job of capturing the story and adding details, it just is not a style that I enjoy as much as those utilized in the series previously. There is nothing wrong with it, this is just personal preference rather than anything related to quality.

Solar System: Our Place in Space is part of a well done series, and I would recommend the series as a whole for school and public libraries. I think purchases for personal libraries should depended on the interests and favorite topics of the readers.

Sara is home sick with a cold and BORED! Her friend Jill stops by to visit and offers to cure her boredom by telling her all about the solar system. Creating an imaginary spaceship named "Unbored," Jill crews it with a mix of pets (hers and Sara's). These loyal space pets set out to visit the solar system and report back to the girls. After they visit each object (the sun, planets, moons, asteroids, etc.) they send back a brief report about the size, contents, origin of its name, and amazing features. These reports are very important, because the imaginary spaceship is powered by "enthusiplasma" a fuel created from Sara's enthusiasm for the solar system - the more cool facts they discover, the more power the ship has.

This unique way of presenting the content is engaging and humorous. Scenes such as the engineering officer providing extra power by running on his hamster wheel, or the Cosmic Kitty accidentally launching the shuttle when she strolls across the Emergency control button keep the presentation from bogging down in dry facts. But there really isn't much danger of boredom when the crew are exploring worlds that may rain diamonds or moons with volcanoes that shoot out water. Along with some famous men such as Tycho Brahe and Galileo, the crew also hear about females such as Caroline Herschel and Venetia Burney. American space programs such as the Apollo missions and Voyager receive much of the attention, but the Russian Venera probes and the Indian Space Research Organization's Mars Orbiter Mission are also mentioned.

For an overview/introduction to the features of the solar system, this book is a great choice. It has funny pets in space suits, quick reviews (in the reports sent back by the Space Pets to Sara), a glossary, and even a guide to watching meteor showers. Recommended for middle grades and up.

What a great concept! information in a graphic novel format! SO much information! Plus a story was woven in, and there were talking animals. The whole thing reminded me so much of Magic School Bus, and that's awesome! My students will devour this book!

A rare misfire for the Science Comics series, Science Comics: Solar System: Our Place in Space goes past educational to sound patronizing. For a book aimed at ages 9-13, the tone is too “kiddy”, and the lessons are presented too blatantly. It just doesn’t live up to the high standards set by the other books in the line, which are both informative and entertaining.

Sara is stuck home with a cold and bored. Her friend Jill comes over to fight her boredom by telling her about the solar system through an imaginary spaceship journey. The ship will only be able to travel if Sara is interested in what they find.

They decide the crew will be their pets, a dog (who acts as captain), a cat (who acts like a cat), a hamster (who’s drawn super-huge to match the others), and a snake (who lectures everyone about each new planet). The scale of the hamster never fit into the rest of the art for me, and I was distracted by wondering why some of the animals are animals (the cat doesn’t speak) and some more humanoid.

The tone is off throughout. We’re constantly told what we can see, and each planet visit ends with a summary report telling us what we’ve just read. The continuing emphasis on how this is all imaginary drew me out of the story, and except for the scaredy-cat hamster, all the animals’ voices sound the same, along with a lecture-y super-computer. It’s hard to write for kids, and this book falls into the common trap of writing down much more than needed, particularly for a tween age group.

With previous Science Comics, I’ve always learned a great deal. This one kept telling me things I already knew. Perhaps trying to cover eight planets plus the sun in one book meant the content had to be more superficial for each one. I’d like to have seen on the page more of the wonders we’re told about and less of the cartoon animal crew. As it is, I found myself flipping pages until it was over, having lost interest before the end, a rarity in this series.

We (myself, hubs and kids) are totally in love with the Science Comics series! A great and entertaining way for kids (and adults) to learn! I highly recommend all of them! We loved this one too!

This is the nest nonfiction space book ever!!!!! I love the graphic novel format and the pet crew. The author does a great job introducing all the major topics in an interesting way! This is a great read for a kid interested in space or for a science classroom as an additional resource. I will be getting this for our library and recommending this to homeschoolers and educators.

This is a wonderful series that promotes lots of science concepts in good terms with lots of great art that makes it appealing and easy to understand for children and people of all ages. I definitely recommend them!

Full disclosure: I love the Science Comics! I have bought several for my Library’s Youth Department and they are an automatic buy when new ones come out. In Solar System, we follow along with Sara as her best friend Jill regales her with an exciting adventure set in our Solar System.
Sara is home sick with a cold and bored out of her mind. Luckily her best friend Jill comes over to help cheer her up. She brings along a book about the Solar System which does not impress Sara. Using Sara’s pets, Jill creates an exciting story about a spaceship and its crew of “loyal Space Pets” who are cruising around the Solar System on a mission to destroy boredom and explore all the fascinating places in space.
Filled with equal amounts fun and facts, this book is sure to keep kids engaged as they learn about the wonders of the Solar System.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to reed and review this book.

Space Comics: Solar System is available September 18, 2018 from First Second Books.

This is a great graphic novel to interest middle grade students in the Solar System. Sara is home sick from school and she is bored. Her friend Jill comes to visit and brings the book she has been reading called "Solar Systems." Using the book and her imaginations, she takes Sara on a trip through the Solar System on the ship called the Unbored. The crew on the ship are Sara's dog, and hamster and Jill's cat and snake. As they travel from the sun to the outer reaches of the solar system, they learn about each planet and the moons. They have to solve some problems and write short reports after each stop. It is a fun way to learn about the solar system and could be a starting point for further research into any of the things the ship encounters along the way. There are some great illustrations mixed in with the cartoon ones. A great addition to any school or class library.