THE BLACKEST HOLE IN SPACE

Framed by a big die-cut hole in the front cover, young Charlie and his dog Doggo conduct a quick tour of the local universe as they and their homemade spaceship fall through a black hole—evoked by a series of diminishing holes punched through most of the heavy-stock pages. The value of this journey to young readers can be gauged by the quality of both the “Factoids” (about Outer Space, Planets, Space Junk, and so on, reflecting every step of the energetically random journey) on every page (“A massive chunk of ice as big as a sofa once fell from the sky and landed in India!”) and Charlie’s fixed expression of manic glee as he and Doggo pass from one scene of scribbly, garishly colored chaos to the next. Better organized and more informative trips along similar routes abound, from Joanna Cole’s Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System (1987), illustrated by Bruce Degen, on out. (Picture book. 6-8)