Astro Girl

by Ken Wilson-Max Narrated by Robin Eller, Tyler Jackson-Price, Pete Cross

Overview

Astrid has loved the stars and space for as long as she can remember. “I want to be an astronaut!” she says to everyone who will listen. While her mama is away, Astrid and her papa have fun acting out the challenges an astronaut faces on a space mission-like being in zero gravity (“I can do that all day long!” she says), eating food from a kind of tube, and doing science experiments with the help of cookie sheets. When at last it's time to meet Mama at the airbase, Astrid wears her favorite space T-shirt to greet her. But where exactly has Mama been? Channeling a sense of childlike delight, Ken Wilson-Max brings space travel up close for young audiences and offers an inspiring ending.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

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.
—Kirkus Reviews

Wilson- Max, who grew up in Zimbabwe and studied design in London, offers a playful, conversational text and bold, vibrant acrylic paintings, which depict Astrid and her parents with brown skin and black hair. The illustrated back matter introduces five notable women astronauts from India, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. (including Shannon Lucid and Mae Jemison), along with a few facts related to space travel. First published in England, this picture book offers an inclusive, worldwide vision of astronauts for all little children who dream of space travel.
—Booklist Online

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. This author/illustrator of the “Max” series continues his perfect connection to young listeners and concludes with 10 fast facts on astronaut history.
—School Library Journal

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.
—The Horn Book

School Library Journal

09/01/2019

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

Kirkus Reviews

2019-06-10
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)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173876287
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	12/17/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	Up to 4 Years

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