Oh No, Astro!

January 25, 2016
In deepest, blackest space lives Astro, an antisocial asteroid. “All Astro wanted was for his personal outer space to be respected,” writes Roeser, a children’s book designer making his debut as author. The chunky green space rock is doing fine until a passing satellite, as smilingly clueless as Astro is persnickety, crashes into Astro and sends him hurtling toward Earth. “I don’t like confrontation!” shouts Astro in the book’s funniest scene as he enters the atmosphere of a worried-looking Earth. While the hasty ending doesn’t make quite as big an impact as Astro does (he stays intact after his collision, loses his hauteur, and befriends an amateur astronomer named Nova), as a character study the book has the right stuff. The precocious narration (filled with delicious words like “rambunctious” and “distraught”), coupled with Astro’s arch speaking style (including exclamations like “Good gravity!” and “Pluto’s revenge!”), is great fun to read aloud, and fellow newcomer Woodard’s Jetsons-esque style and bright palette bring just the right Space Age atmosphere to the story. A lively afterword addresses questions about orbits, asteroids, and more. Ages 4–8.

February 1, 2016
Jostled out of his orbit, a confrontation-averse animate asteroid prone to courtly speech finds himself heading for a perilous, unexpected, fast-track encounter with planet Earth. While most asteroids "crash," "bash," and "smash" into one another, Astro carefully monitors "his personal outer space." When a rogue satellite approaches, Astro warns: "You stay in your orbit and I'll stay in mine." Unfortunately, the fixedly smiling satellite bumps into Astro, who is "understandably distraught" about damage to one of his "favorite craters." Worse, he's knocked out of his orbit. Out-of-control and tragically subject to inertia, Astro whizzes past Mars, the moon, and a spacewalking astronaut, irrevocably heading toward Earth, where Nova, a stargazing blonde white girl, tracks his meteoric descent, spectacular breakup, and crash landing. Computer-generated illustrations portray Astro and everything he encounters as simple, cutout shapes in dramatic aqua, red, white, and yellow, contrasting sharply with the dense black backgrounds reminiscent of endless outer space. Astro's exaggerated facial expressions and ridiculously tiny limbs add drama as well as humor. Bold diagonal lines moving downward across the pages from left to right amplify Astro's rapid descent, while a double-page spread featuring only the word "SMASH!" in huge text effectively reinforces his colossal crash. An engaging Q-and-A offers scientific information about asteroids. Informative, dynamic, rich in vocabulary, and quite funny. (suggested reading) (Picture book. 4-8)

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April 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-Cantankerous Astro is an asteroid who shuns interaction, preferring to be alone in his own personal space and time. When a passing satellite collides with him, Astro responds with disbelief and mild oaths. "Good gravity! You've struck me!.... Pluto's revenge! That rotating rogue seems to have knocked me off orbit!" Soon he's hurtling past Mars. Meanwhile, a stargazing Earth girl named Nova catches sight of Astro. Narrowly avoiding an astronaut, Astro zooms past the moon, Earth-bound. Admitting he doesn't like confrontation, he crashes with a huge SMASH! He brushes himself off, admits all was fun (even ticklish), and walks off hand-in-hand with Nova. Astro's journey is lighthearted, bordering on silly. Adults will find the cartoon illustrations humorous. Astro sports a "No Loitering" sign, for example. His arms can be confused with a smiling mouth, at first glance. Most of the text is set on a black night-sky background. Appended fact pages explain things like where asteroids are located, what an orbit is, and if there really is a flag on the moon. Children will be drawn to the absurd story and the boldly colored, zany pictures. VERDICT Good fun for the youngest space enthusiasts, but not to be taken seriously.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016
Grades K-2 Astro is not quite like other asteroids. They're a rowdy bunch, but homebody Astro just wants his personal outer space to be respected. Generally, he gets his wish, until one day a satellite comes a little too close, knocking Astro out of orbit. Much to his chagrin, he is hurtling through space at blistering speeds! Meanwhile, on Earth, a little girl named Nova curiously tracks his progress through a telescope. The illustrations here steal the show: a gray-blue Astro pops against a black background, and his deadpan, nonplussed facial expressions pair wonderfully with the dryly funny text. On the first read-through, some of the physics involved may be a bit complex for younger readers, although a spread of Space Facts at the end will help clear up lingering questions and perhaps pique the interest of would-be scientists. But this won't keep even the most science-averse young readers from enjoying the unamused Astro's voyage through the galaxy, or from demanding another read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)