Touchdown Mars!

Children's Literature

Ever wonder what it would be like to travel on a Mars mission? The ABC format of this space travel book touches on topics such as gravity, scenery, Martian volcanoes, and weather. This Mars mission includes nine children from different nations and a cat all traveling on a space ship headed for the "Red Planet." The "H" page shows children maintaining healthy habits while traveling, such as sleeping buckled in bag and showering in an enclosed container. The "I" and "J" pages are a two-page spread showing the children doing jobs inside the cutaway ship. In a library, this book simultaneously fills two niches. Preschool children can enjoy the ABC angle, and older elementary students interested in space will appreciate the bite size information presented. This picture book is an especially good purchase for elementary schools to complement the science curriculum. After reading this book students could create their own ABC space adventure books in the media center or classroom. 2000, Putnam Publishing, Ages 4 to 8, $15.99. Reviewer: Wendy Pollock-Gilson

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-This journey to Mars combines space facts with letters of the alphabet. Many of the alphabet connections are weak (F: "Your journey will take you very far" and I: "You will be inside your spacecraft-"), but the brief facts included with each letter are just enough to entice young readers. Likewise, the alphabet and detailed drawings will appeal to pre-readers. The meatiest chunks of information are found in the appended "Mars A-B-Cyclopedia." The cheery, cartoon-style drawings done in watercolor and ink are the highlight of this title. Kids will enjoy following the busy blend of multicultural characters and a calico cat as they make their preparations and journey through space. Black-and-white drawings of the solar system and a diagram of the spacecraft's orbit are featured on the endpapers. Despite the feeble alphabet associations, there is much here for young space enthusiasts to explore.-Carolyn Stacey, Jefferson County Public Library, Arvada, CO Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

"You are an astronaut! These are your crewmates. You are going to Mars!" So begins an alphabet book of Mars for beginning science enthusiasts. Handsome watercolor drawings show a multiracial crew of eight kids and a pet cat as they suit up, board the spacecraft, and set off for Mars. The journey will take more than three years. The paintings and brief captions describe life aboard the space ship, Mars landing, exploration, experiments, and travel back home. Many pictures show the crew and cat floating inside the spacecraft, astronauts working, sleeping, and exercising in zero gravity. The title concludes with an A-B-Cyclopedia of additional Mars facts. Front end papers show a handsome drawing of the solar system, while back end papers show the orbit of the Mars space voyage. Younger children will read the illustrations and search for the alphabet letters while more able readers will explore the impressive number of facts in the brief captions, for example: "How far will you travel? The orbit of Mars is approximately 49 million miles from Earth, but because the planets are moving, your spacecraft is following an elliptical path of more than 300 million miles." No sources are given, but Dr. Edgett is a research scientist working with pictures from the Mars Surveyor Project. A beginning science title to spur the imagination. (Nonfiction. 6-8)