National Geographic Readers: Meteors

Meteors are streaks of light from meteoroids, which are chunks of rock from space. If a meteoroid hits the ground, it is called a meteorite. Most meteoroids come from asteroids, which are large space rocks. Many others come from comets, which are icy rocks with two tails. The next biggest source is Mars. The smallest source is the moon. The sun is the center of the solar system, and eight planets orbit it. The asteroid belt is between two planets, Mars and Jupiter. Surrounding the solar system is a ring of icy rocks known as the Kuiper Belt. All around that is a cloud of gas and dust called the Oort cloud. The best-known meteorites are known as Noga, Nobata, Gibeon, and Cape York. Houses, cars, and offices have been damaged by meteorites, but even people have been hit by meteorites. Many scientists look for meteorites, but all sorts of people do too.

This book would be good for kids ready for bigger words. I liked this book because it had jokes and really good pictures. This book would be better if it explained the big words that didn’t include definitions.