Solar System Forecast

Freezing temperatures, scorching heat, and a storm bigger than planet Earth is just some of the wild weather you will encounter on your trip through our solar system! Get your fun facts along with your forecast for each major planet, as well as the weather on dwarf planet Pluto, and Saturn's moon Titan. Any child with an interest in space is sure to love Solar System Forecast, and parents will love the educational “For Creative Minds” section in the back of the book. Get ready for some out of this world fun with Solar System Forecast!

A friendly, green-skinned TV weatheralien (he calls himself a "weatherman" in the text) begins with the Sun (“active today, with dark sunspots scattered across the surface…”) and moves on to each planet in turn. There are additional reports for the moon Titan (“a 100% chance of very chilly methane-rain drizzle today!”) and the dwarf planet Pluto. Klein provides painted scenes featuring space-suited commuters, melted or frozen science gear and views of prominent storms, from a hurricane on Earth to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Readers in search of specific highs, lows and other meteorological data will be well served by the charts, tables, diagrams, quizzes and other enrichment material both at the end and online on the publisher’s site. (June 2012)
Kirkus Reviews

Author/Illustrator Info:

Kelly Kizer Whitt (Solar System Forecast) has been an admirer of the universe since childhood. From the dark skies of her hometown of Sauk City, Wisconsin, she would gaze at the stars and wonder what was beyond them. Kelly majored in English and studied Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After college she spent three years in Nashville with her husband, Jeremy, before moving to the Milwaukee area. In 1998 she landed her dream job at Astronomy magazine, where she worked as copy editor, photo editor, and assistant editor. Kelly wrote the terrestrial planets section of The Collins Illustrated Encyclopedia of Space, published in 2001. She writes about space for the websites Suite101.com and AstronomyToday.com. She also has a weekly stargazing blog for the Sierra Club online. Besides writing about space, Kelly published a romance novel on Kindle in 2011 titled The Gathering Storm. Kelly’s hobbies include visiting the national parks, creating crossword puzzles, and reading. Kelly lives in Sussex, Wisconsin, with Jeremy, her son Kaden, her daughter Lucy, and their cat Perseus, named for the constellation. See her school visit info.

Laurie Allen Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 25 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals, to illustrating children's activity books. As evident by the extras included in the art, she has combined her love and fascination with outer space (and science fiction) with children’s illustration in both Solar System Forecast and Meet the Planets. Laurie also illustrated Fur and Feathers, Where Should Turtle Be?, Little Skink's Tail, and If a Dolphin Were a Fish for Sylvan Dell. Laurie lives in Florida. See more of her artwork at http://www.lauriekleinarts.com.