I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting idea with some colorful pictures. Some of it was a little odd (Pluto being the family pet...I mean will Disney like that). But overall, I think kids will learn something about space and enjoy this silly story.

This was cute and sweet. Mars is lonely because no one wants to play, and goes to Father Sun to ask for a pet. After getting the runaround from dad, Mars goes to its sibling planets, but they're all to busy to play. The Earth has an idea, though, and sends two rovers to Mars to keep it amused. The illustrations are anthropomorphized and cute and friendly, but there's not much about the rovers' mission within the story. However, there's a really good afterword that tells about the solar system in general and Mars specifically, plus information about all the rovers that have visited Mars. A fun introduction to the Mars rover program for early readers.

Throughout July, GeekMom is preparing for the planned launch of the Perseverance rover on July 20th with Mars Month, a month filled with Mars-themed content. Be sure to follow the Mars Month tag to find all of this month’s content so far in one place. Today I am reviewing Mars’ First Friends by Susanna Leonard Hill, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli.

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Mars’ First Friends is a picture book that depicts an anthropomorphized Mars as one of eight planetary siblings. Mars is sad, bored, and lonely and longs for a pet of his own. His dad (the Sun) reminds him that pets are a big responsibility that need to be kept in orbit and sends him out to play with one of his siblings. However, all his siblings are too busy or tired. Uranus and Neptune have Pluto to play with, Saturn is busy playing hoops with her rings, Jupiter has his moons to juggle, Venus has a temperature and doesn’t feel well, Mercury is too little, and Earth has her humans to take care of, so Mars has no one to play with.

It’s then that Mars receives a present, two little rovers who fly over to play on his surface. They tickle as they drive in and out of his craters, have fun collecting his rocks, and play in the dust storms he creates. Mars loves his new pets and is excited to one day have even more to play with.

Mars’ First Friends is an adorable book with ridiculously cute illustrations from Elisa Paganelli. Spirit and Opportunity are just so precious with their big eyes and smiles as they scamper about Mars’ surface together, and Mars himself will bring a smile to your face as he goes from sad and lonely to happy and joyous thanks to his new friends.

The story itself is, of course, anything but factual. However, it does give a good introduction to the planets of our solar system and also to the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity who feature here, which will hopefully inspire many more in-depth conversations. At the end of the book are some facts about all the planets (and Pluto) with an extra detailed look at Mars. There are also a few paragraphs about all the Mars rovers to date and some photos of them too. All the information here is simple enough for parents and children to share together but detailed enough to serve as a jumping-off point for further discussion.

Mars’ First Friends will be a great read for young astronomers and for parents who want to explain about the new Perseverence rover to younger children. Be sure to check out the sister book Moon’s First Friends by the same team as well.

GeekMom received a copy of this book for review purposes.

If you have ever been bored or lonely you will appreciate Mars. In this book, Mars is looking for a friend and after a long search he gets a special surprise. This book is a great example of personification for younger readers and a great introduction to the solar system. Perfect for the whole family!

This was a fun read that explores why Mars has rovers. Fits right in with Pluto Gets the Call by Adam Rex and Stacy McAnulty's Sun/Moon/Earth books. Interesting to see Pluto envisioned as the family pet and Sun envisioned as male (I've always thought of the sun as female).

Mars' First Friends is a super cute informative picture books perfect for all the little readers you know that love stories about space. This book not only helps recount the eight different planets in our solar system, but also introduces the Mars space rovers to children.
The back pages offer quite a bit more information to readers which is helpful, but I wish that this book was more focused on the actual rovers and what they did on Mars. Most of the book seems focused on Mars being lonely, and while I like that his journey around the solar system introduces us to all planets and a fun fact about them, this title implies that most of the story would be about the Mars rovers.
While this story is fun and adorable, I wish it had been more focused. I still recommend it for Pre-K and Kindergarten, especially if they are doing space units, but would recommend maybe having a fun video or something to supplement if you are trying to learn about Mars rovers.

I have a space unit I teach in Kindergarten and have been using Moon’s First Friends as part of it. This new one, Mars’ First friends will be a great addition. Mars is upset because he doesn’t have anyone to play with and speaks with Dad(sun) about his troubles. This is a fictional story with some facts included.

This was just the book we needed to complement our home school lessons! "Mars' First Friends" by Susanna Leonard Hill tells the story of Mars, the lonely planet that just wanted to play with someone. All of Mars' brother and sister planets are busy so Mars decides to ask for a pet. What kind of pet will Mars get? Will the planet be lonely or finally find a friend to play with?

This book checks all the right boxes in regards to children's fiction. It has a cute plot, adorable illustrations and a great message along with educational information on the final frontier, space! We have five year old children at home that had just learned about the planets, so this book fell into our hands at the perfect time! Our kids were able to follow along with the story and lit up when they saw the familiar characters like Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune. The kids loved Pluto and how the dwarf planet was written as a pet for Neptune and Uranus. This book stimulated some great conversations about STEM topics, Space Exploration and so much more! The bonus section in the back with information on the Mars' rovers and NASA was excellent as well.

I read this with my five year old, who absolutely adored this book. The illustrations were precious. I enjoyed the planet facts at the end of the book for the whole solar system. We have "Moon's First Friends" in our picture book collection in our classroom, so I know this will make a great addition next to it when it comes out!

I received an ARC through NetGalley from Sourcebooks. My 5-year-old gave this 5 stars, he loves space. Mars wants a pet or a friend to play with, but all the other planets are too busy to come have fun with him. Then one day two little friends parachute down and start navigating his terrain, the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. There are nice illustrations and page spreads. My son liked the planet facts at the end of the book, however the other facts were a bit thick for little ones. I also wanted more about what the rovers actually do within the storybook text. It was a good introduction to what a rover is for young readers. Recommended for ages 4-7.

Fun little story about mars wanting a friend. I enjoyed the planet facts at the end of the book for the whole solar system, not just mars.

This is a unique way to look at the planets. They are all one big family with a big dad sun. Mars is lonely and wants a pet. He gets them as rovers sent from earth to explore. I really like how this was done. I think lots of readers will like it and it will be a hot check out in my library.

What a fun story about the planets! I like how Pluto was brought in as the planetary-family pet. This story is all about Mars who wants a pet/friend of his own. He tries to play with his brothers and sisters, but they are all too busy.

The solution comes in a gift from his sister, Earth. You can probably guess it (I know I did), but it's a nice way to introduce the space program and what's currently happening. I also really liked all the information at the back of the book.

**Note: I received a free copy of this title from the people at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This is a fun way to teach kids about the solar system, while also making planets a more interesting topic to learn about.

I absolutely loved this book! My children are both very interested in science and space, and they really enjoyed this story. With whimsical illustrations, and an easy to read narrative, Mars' First Friends puts a fun twist on the introduction of its first rovers sent from Earth, Spirit and Opportunity.

A nice first read for young children about space exploration. The story is simplistic but drawings are cute and appealing. The information in the back may also appeal to older children and can point caregivers to further resources for children who found the story compelling.

This was a cute little picture book about Mars wanting a pet. I absolutely loved the illustrations, and I liked the additional facts about the planets and rovers at the end of the book.

Once again the educational/adorable picture books are dominating my heart right now. I loved this little story and the actual story of the rovers included in the back of the book. Seeing Pluto made me smile and I loved the reference to each planets' defining features. Well done!

I found it strange that Pluto was now the "family pet" of the planets with the sun being the dad. Poor Pluto getting its planet title taken away. The illustrations are wonderfully done and I love when human characteristics or situations are mirrored with non-human objects, like the planets taking care of a pet like Pluto. I find it completely adorable that Earth's moon has a little American flag on it!
I especially enjoyed the little science lesson at the end of the book, explaining a little bit about each planet in our solar system and the Mars Rovers.

This is a cute book that combines a fictional story about an anthropomorphized planet with scientific facts about the planets in our solar system (Mars in particular).

Mars longs for a pet. His siblings hog Pluto. The others don't feel like playing with him, either. He asks his father, the Sun, for help, but all his dad tells him is to play with his siblings. One day, though, his sister Earth sends him a gift: rovers named Spirit and Opportunity!

The premise is kind of cute, although not strictly factual. The story about a kid longing for a pet is pretty universal, though, and the ending is sweet. But the book's real strength lies in the non-fiction section at the back. Kids who are interested in outer space, planets, or exploratory missions to Mars will probably find this part fascinating.

Turning the Mars rovers into pets is a cute concept. It works.