Full-color images explode from the pages of this book, giving high level descriptions of the planets, their moons, and astronomical events. The sun starts it off and the text goes in order of the planets, moving away from the sun. It covers the birth of our solar system to exploring space in general. A section on the asteroid belt is included to help explain this area of the solar system. It breaks down the parts of each planet and their distinct features.This is a fabulous book that helps students to visualize the inner workings of the solar system. The table of contents is extremely user friendly. The text, while using higher level vocabulary, is engaging to most teenagers. It uses a story telling prose style as to try not to bore teens with tedious text. This book can be used for a teaching tool or a reference tool, but is also great for the space enthusiast. This text includes a reference section with solar system data, a glossary, an index, and acknowledgements.Barbara Allen.