How to be on the moon

One evening, Anna and Crocodile are playing in her home when she says, LET'S GO TO THE MOON! Crocodile makes the sandwiches, while Anna builds a rocket in her backyard. Soon after takeoff, the friends drift weightlessly and play Crocodiles in Space, which involves catching and eating the sandwich parts that are also floating. They land on the moon and explore its surface. Looking up at the beautiful, shining Earth, they decide to fly home. After returning from their lunar adventure, Anna observes, the Earth is everywhere! It is huge! And once again, they set out to explore. The writing is childlike, sensitive, and often witty. The illustrations, created with pencils, crayons, and watercolors, become increasingly intricate and colorful as the imaginative adventure progresses. Crocodile's space helmet, elongated to accommodate his snout, looks both practical and comical. Given the predominance of boys in picture books featuring space travel, it's refreshing to see Anna, with her brown skin, red dress, and can-do spirit, take the lead here. A fine companion volume to Schwarz's How to Find Gold (2016).--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2019 Booklist

Adventurous Anna and cautious Crocodile take a trip to the moon and back to Earth.Anna wants to go to the moon, but Crocodile warns, "It will be almost impossible." Undeterred, Anna responds, "I like that.Let's go!" Crocodile finds a hold-up at every turn. They need "special skills," like math. Luckily, Anna can count backward from five. They need lots of patience. ("And now?" appears opposite "No" or "Still not" nine times in funny, eye-catching columns.) Anna figures Crocodile's patience can do for them both. Crocodile makes the sandwiches while Anna builds the rocket, and they blast off. They play a game in the no-gravity zone, and after a short nap, they land on the moon. From the moon, Anna decides that "Poor Earth" misses them, and they head back home. Watercolor illustrations show brown-skinned, puffy-black-haired Anna, green-skinned Crocodile, and their colorful, patchwork confection of a rocket against white space at home and against deep, dark, star-studded skies on their journey. The moon and Earth are rendered in intriguing textural and color combinations. The contrast between Anna's and Crocodile's personalities allows audiences of different inclinations a way into the story.The story is funand the artwork shines. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.