Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-5. In this short picture book, a little girl gives readers advise on traveling to Mars. As she gathers up the supplies she will need for her imagined journey, the scene shifts back and forth between her house and the red planet of her dreams. She suggests taking a space hat, a space teddy, space cookies, and also a mop--for the dust storms. While the mix of fact and whimsy may charm adults more than children, the artwork, is bound to draw even the very young into the fantastic voayage. Using rounded forms and bright, harmonious colors, Cocca-Leffler creates a series of lively illustrations reflecting a child's view of a comfortable adventure. She clarifies the shifts from imagination to reality by framing the earthbound scenes within wide, white borders and allowing the fantasies to fill double-page spreads right to the edges. Hand printed on lined notebook paper and decorated with childlike crayon drawings, the appended "Facts about Mars" is an attractive addition, though it would probably appeal to children a few years older than those who will find the story satisfying. ~--Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
In this attractive but insignificant story, a little girl dons her space suit (which looks remarkably like a blanket sleeper) and begins to pack for a trip to Mars: space hat, space shoes, space gloves, space mop (for the dust), flashlight, vegetables, space cookies, teddy bear. After she says goodbye to her sleeping parents, she blasts off in a rocket ship. On four pages of lined yellow paper, the girl prints some facts about Mars. Other informational tidbits are scattered throughout the brief text. The cheerful illustrations, executed in acrylic, oil pastel, and colored pencil, are surrounded by wide white borders on pages showing the child at home; borderless two-page spreads (in oranges, yellows, pinks, and dark blue) show her and her cat on Mars. Although the ``facts'' section states that ``a human being couldn't breathe on Mars without a space helmet and an oxygen tank,'' the girl frolics on the planet wearing a motorcycle-style helmet sans oxygen tank. (Her cat wears no protective clothing at all.) Very young space lovers will be left unsatisfied by the book's cutesy text, while the limited amount of factual material (seemingly aimed at six to eight year olds) can be found in more depth in any work of nonfiction about the planets. --Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A little girl prepares for an imaginary trip to Mars in this simply told story which includes some factual information. The acrylic and pastel illustrations are bright and appealing. From HORN BOOK 1990, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
