Birthday on Mars!

March 1, 2019
Greetings from Curiosity, roving the red planet since 2012!With a wave of its arm, Curiosity introduces itself and the barren Martian landscape ("No humans have ever been here before. Isn't that cool?"), then, while sending a celebratory selfie back to friends on Earth, sings "Happy birthday to me"--a ditty it actually was programmed to hum, though just on the first anniversary of its landing. In his blocky painted illustrations, Ross sends the excitable rover ("Oops--I made a dust cloud! I guess I should slow down") trundling through a Martian sunset while extolling the virtue for which it was named, then switches planetary settings to show some of Curiosity's "billions of friends" (or a diverse crowd of them, at least) gathered in a science museum for the party. With its boxlike, six-wheeled body, single arm, and red-lensed camera on a movable stalk, the rover manages to project lots of personality. For readers who are still, well, curious, Schonfeld closes with a page of Mars and Mars rover facts, plus the news that a new rover will be on its way in the near future. With its diminutive trim, the book even recalls a birthday card.A sweet interplanetary message from a narrator who sounds for all the world like a younger version of the one in Markus Motum's more seriously detailed Curiosity (2018). (Picture book. 5-7)

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April 15, 2019
“My name is Curiosity, and I live on Mars” begins this picture book narrated by the NASA robot. Curiosity explains that it has been sent to Mars by humans on Earth (who have “never been here before,” Schonfeld writes) to explore the planet, reporting back every day to “tell them what I’ve learned and send them pictures of what I’ve seen.” On the day the book chronicles, the one-year anniversary of the rover’s arrival on Mars, Curiosity sends a special message: “It’s my birthday!” Ross’s depiction of Curiosity and the planet’s landscape—a hardy robot living among dust clouds and hills—are inviting, with notable soft edges and warm oranges and yellows. Imparting a message about connection and friendship regardless of distance (the robot even sends a selfie), the personified robot then broadens focus from celebrating its birthday to highlighting the importance of curiosity. The shift from Curiosity the character to curiosity the concept feels sudden (a single page turn tackles the topic, another lands readers on Earth), but the pleasingly sized volume’s message of resilience and community across space is winning. Back matter provides additional information about Mars and other NASA rovers. Ages 5–8.

January 24, 2020

Gr 1-4-A cute look at the life of the little rover Curiosity, released at a timely moment in Mars exploration history. As noted in the back of the book along with various other fun facts, another rover will soon be joining the others. The writing is sparse and not the most electrifying, as the story focuses more on the scratchy, grainy art, giving a tactile feel that is accurate to the Martian landscape. Two moments in particular stand out: a view of a NASA control center has little post-it notes peppered around the computer screens, a really delightful detail. Second, an image of Curiosity lifting up a rock is then repeated in the background of the following pages, lending an additional sense of reality to the stories of transmitting images through space. The characterization of Curiosity is strange; it is a bubbly little personality as it speeds around the planet at a velocity much higher than the actual rover would ever go, contrasting with its realistic, if under-detailed, illustration. Also misleading is a claim that Curiosity will explore the entire planet, when it is actually limited to a much smaller surface area. VERDICT Unnecessary fact-checking aside, this is a fun little tale sure to strike a spark of curiosity in astrophysics-minded children.-Sean Dorsey, Suffolk Public Library, VA

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