18th February Pluto Day

Pluto Day is celebrated on the 18th February because this is the date on which it was first observed in 1930 by American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh. Then it was considered to be the ninth planet from the Sun. It enjoyed the status of planet until 2006 when it was relabelled as a dwarf planet. For us 'older folk' this was a shock because it messed up our mnemonic for remembering the names of the planets... My Very Eager Mother Just Served Up Nine Pizzas which has apparently become My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos. What do the planets really have to do with food?

This aside many people felt sorry for Pluto and he has since become the subject of picture books that are not only about its discovery, naming and change of status, but they often include a theme about inclusion, exclusion, feelings etc which personifies Pluto.

Look for these books:

An empowering, inspiring--and accessible!--nonfiction picture book about the eleven-year-old girl who actually named the newly discovered Pluto in 1930. When Venetia Burney's grandfather reads aloud from the newspaper about a new discovery--a "ninth major planet" that has yet to be named--her eleven-year-old mind starts whirring. She is studying the planets in school and loves Roman mythology. "It might be called Pluto," she says, thinking of the dark underworld. Grandfather loves the idea and contacts his friend at London's Royal Astronomical Society, who writes to scientists at the Lowell Observatory in Massachusetts, where Pluto was discovered. After a vote, the scientists agree unanimously: Pluto is the perfect name for the dark, cold planet. 









Pluto is not pleased when he learns that astronomers have downgraded him from planet to dwarf planet. He embarks on a fun and out-of-this-world adventure across the solar system to visit Earth and reclaim his planetary status. It's a boy on Earth who makes him realise that, big or small, planet or not, he's still special! 















Pluto loves being a planet. That is, until the day he gets a call from some Earth scientists telling him he isn’t a planet anymore! You probably wanted to meet a real planet, huh? So, Pluto takes the reader on a hilarious and informative journey through the solar system to introduce the other planets and commiserate about his situation along the way.









Providing a history of the small, icy world from its discovery and naming to its recent reclassification, this book presents a fascinating look at how scientists organize and classify our solar system as they gain new insights into how it works and what types of things exist within it.

Pluto got the shock of his life when he was kicked out of the famous nine. His planet status was stripped away, leaving him lost and confused. Poor Pluto! On his quest to find a place where he belongs, he talks to comets, asteroids, and meteoroids. He doesn't fit in anywhere! But when Pluto is about to give up, he runs into a dwarf planet and finally finds his place in the solar system.







And if you haven't got time to celebrate Pluto now, wait till Pluto Demoted Day on August 24 which commemorates the day in 2006 when Pluto's status was downgraded from a full sized planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).