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.

Narrator L.J. Ganser's exuberance enhances this tale of Astro, an irritable asteroid who greatly values his personal space and is outraged when he's thrown from his orbit. Ganser excels at portraying grumpy Astro and at pronouncing adjectives--such as "crash-smash"--that perfectly describe Astro's plight. Lively music and sound effects add to the atmosphere. Astro sounds delighted as he careens through space, greeting Mars with a "hi" and a quick "bye" as he speeds past. When he enters Earth's orbit, he endearingly admits it's fun. Listeners will learn from the "Space Facts" that the American flag that was planted on the moon in 1969 has faded and are advised, "When you go up there, take a new one or a selfie of the old one." S.G.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine