In September 2025 Our Solar System! A Stellar Neighborhood by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by Stevie Lewis will be available. I was able to read via an online reader copy, but I know that a final copy will see itself becoming gifts for friends, family and local libraries. This is a new addition to the solar system/planet/space books that have gone before.
This introduction to the solar system has a slightly younger tone and feeling than the author’s other works. That is not to say that it is less than the previous books, it still has all the goodness of the other planet/solar system books, but I feel it is just for a younger audience. And no matter how many times books or McAnulty in particular calls it a dwarf planet, I am still going to holler: All Hail Planet Pluto!! (Even if they seem to be okay with their dwarf planet status).
Everything about this book is fun. The illustrations are bold and bubbly. They have a good color scheme and that allows the reader to see our friendly space cowboy narrator blast through the solar system. Things are simpler, but are not lacking information. While the illustrations are cartoon based, they also humorously show the final frontier as much as the text. Images allow you to have a reference point that is not “just the facts.” There are facts, of course, and some of which I was unfamiliar with. Did you know that the solar system has not one but two belts to hold itself together? Well, that’s not exactly how it works, so you’ll have to read to find out.
Overall, if the book has Stacy McAnulty on it, you need to pick it up and read it and this book is no exception.