Destination: space Living on other planets

Vacationing on other planets may seem like a crazy notion, but Dr. Dave has an even wilder one: people from Earth living on other planets. Retired Canadian astronaut Williams begins by discussing the factors that make Earth a Goldilocks planet, just right for human habitation. After considering the conditions (heat, cold, weak gravity, poisonous gasses, no atmosphere, no solid surface, no known water) that make individual planets and moons in our solar system less than ideal for earthlings, he looks at the everyday challenges of living on Mars or our moon in more detail. Like the three earlier volumes in the Dr. Dave Astronaut series, this large-format book has an attractive, high-energy presentation, with text boxes, color photos, and cartoonlike digital drawings of kids and animals on every page. Perhaps the main advantage of hearing these ideas from an astronaut is credibility, but the text combines practical information with a light tone and irrepressible optimism that kids will find engaging. Will the book's readers live on another planet some day? It could happen! --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2018 Booklist

Want to pull up stakes and head for really distant parts? Here's a quick survey of current possibilities.Though the obstacles to taking up residence on other worlds seem immense right now, ex-astronaut Williams and co-author Cunti take an optimistic viewpointing out that people have already been living in space longer than readers born after 2000 have been alive and projecting settlements on Mars by as early as 2030. In examining each planet (including ours) and select moons as potential residences, though, they tend more toward breezy comments about packing selfie sticks and ice skates than specific information about feasible solutions to local conditions or hazards. They're also a bit loose with facts (there's a measurement of Jupiter's surface area on the same page as an observation that Jupiter doesn't have a surface), offer jejune suggestions that other worlds could serve to relieve population pressure or even as new homes should Earth ever need to be evacuated, and occasionally drift off topic to, for instance, discuss "space elevators" and introduce astrophysicist Jedidah Isler, a woman of color who studies phenomena called blazars. Krynauw adds a multicultural cast of young cartoon characters to the mix of digital space art and photos of astronauts aboard the ISS or in experimental habitats on Earth.More aspirational than realistic at this point, but some of its intended audience will walk on other worlds. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 7-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.