Astro Girl

September 1, 2019

PreS-K-Young Astrid is adamant about her ambitions to become an astronaut. During their day together, Dad reminds her of the challenges: "You'll have to go round and round the Earth in your spaceship" as he spins her around the room. "'You'll also have to get used to zero gravity.' Papa threw her up in the air. "I can do that all day long!' Astrid laughed." They practice doing science experiments together by baking cookies. Astrid seems somewhat sure she'll be able to sleep on her own among the stars. The girl's inspiration comes to light when it's time to pick up Mama from work...at the space center where's she's just returned from a mission. Large acrylic paintings in rich jewel tones bring Astrid's world to life. From her telescope and rocket T-shirt, to her Space Hoops cereal, this preschooler is on her way to achieving her dreams. VERDICT This author/illustrator of the "Max" series continues his perfect connection to young listeners and concludes with 10 fast facts on astronaut history.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
This simple story embraces a little girl's determination to become an astronaut. Astrid wants to be an astronaut. Readers meet the young preschooler as she uses her telescope to look at the stars out her bedroom window. On the next page, she shares her dreams of space with her best friend while they lie in the grass, looking up. Some cool facts emerge in Astrid's conversation with her father, like how astronauts "[eat] food out of a tube or a package every day." That doesn't faze Astrid. Papa then prepares his "Astro Girl" for zero g by tossing her up in the air before they make rocket-shaped cookies together and then turn in. "At last it was time to go get Mama." Papa and Astrid arrive at the space center, where readers see three silhouettes in the doorway. One of them is Astrid's mom--she's an astronaut. Wilson-Max hits the trifecta with a nurturing primary-caregiver father and a successful STEM-career mother heading this loving family of color. The simple, present-tense text questions none of these things, normalizing them for a preschool audience. His characteristic black-lined, painterly acrylics place this family in a cozy home complete with dog. Backmatter offers some further information, most notably a timeline of women, including women of color, in space. A girl-power book that any child will enjoy. (Picture book. 4-8)

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July 1, 2019
After spending the day together, astronomy-obsessed Astrid and her papa drive to pick up Astrid's mother from work--at the space center. Wilson-Max's painterly illustrations convey the warmth and joy of a family of color consisting of an impressively accomplished working mother, a loving father, and a young girl who dreams of reaching for the stars. Informative back matter highlights five female astronauts and a handful of space-flight facts.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2019
As young Astrid gazes out her bedroom window at the stars, using a hand-held telescope, we see visual evidence of her astronomy obsession all around: a helmet, model rocket ship, etc. The straightforward text begins: "Astrid had loved the stars and space ever since she could remember." Most of the book follows Astrid and her Papa at home spending time together and playfully discussing (and acting out) the girl's ambition. When Papa tells Astrid that in space she will have to eat meals in small packages, she shows how she is already preparing by snacking on a cereal bar; Papa says she'll have to get used to zero gravity, while tossing her into the air. At the end of the day they drive to pick up Astrid's mother from work-at the space center, where Mama and two other astronauts are just exiting a space shuttle. Wilson-Max uses bold colors and thick black lines in his painterly illustrations, which convey the warmth and joy of a family of color consisting of an impressively accomplished working mother, a loving father as primary caregiver, and a young girl who dreams of reaching for the stars. Informative back matter highlights five female astronauts (with an error regarding the date of Shannon Lucid's mission) and a handful of space-flight facts. Michelle H. Martin

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)