A Is for Astronaut: Exploring Space from A to Z [Hardcover]

Traci N. Todd (Author), Sara Gillingham (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

Learning about space has never been so much fun! An out-of-this-world mix of vintage illustrations and contemporary photos makes this book about space as entertaining to look at as it is to read. With simple information about everything from the planets to animals in space, to the food astronauts eat, A Is for Astronaut is sure to excite young readers' natural curiosity and imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3–Illustrated with a mix of familiar space photos and retro Space Age-style art, this alphabet of random space words is unlikely to engage readers on any level. Each letter gets a page or spread with one to four terms, accompanied by superficial definitions; R, for instance, includes Radar (a system used to find faraway objects), with a photo of a generic dish antenna, and a simplified schematic drawing of an unattached Robotic Arm, vaguely described as a machine that helps astronauts perform dangerous tasks. Elsewhere, choices such as the flags of Norway and the Netherlands used to represent nations helping to build the International Space Station come across as filler, and viewers will have to look sharp to spot the X-15 Rocket Plane, which is nearly hidden beneath the wing of its gigantic B-52 transport. The planets are laid out according to the old, recently superseded scheme. Skip this title in favor of Janis Campbell and Cathy Collison's G Is for Galaxy: An Out of This World Alphabet (Sleeping Bear, 2005) or similar titles.–John Peters, New York Public Library
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811854620
• ISBN-13: 978-0811854627
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Astronomy & Space > Aeronautics & Space

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Apparently, there are no women in space, August 1, 2009

By 

H. Murphy "ghiadvr" (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Is for Astronaut: Exploring Space from A to Z (Hardcover)

I wanted to buy this book for my 4-year-old daughter, who is very interested in space and astronauts. I picked up a copy at a bookstore and really liked the book at first. The illustrations and detail are terrific. I noticed, though, that all of the people the book profiles are men. All of the astronauts and scientists are men. Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gegarin are profiled, but not Sally Ride, Valentina Tereshkova or Eileen Collins.

All of the photographs of people working on the space program or going into space are men. The only females in the book are women in a crowd of spectators and an illustration of a little girl looking through a telescope on the ground. The message being: girls sit and watch, men do the thinking and hard work.

I'm not a militant feminist. My daughter is not a "tom boy." She happily plays princess and enjoys her Hello Kitty coloring books just as much as she likes watching videos of the Mars lander. I just think that a modern book should reflect more modern ways of thinking.

This book won't be coming on to our bookshelves. We look forward to a later edition that pays more attention to men AND women who have dedicated their lives to space exploration.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Systems Go, July 20, 2007

By 

Gord Wilson "alivingdog.com" (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Is for Astronaut: Exploring Space from A to Z (Hardcover)

As an adult, I generally don't like kids' picturebooks. They're big, expensive, hardbacks with almost no pages, almost no reading and a lot of pictures. Kids are wild about them for the same reason. I notice one of the "official" reviews slams this book for the thinly veiled worst reason: it's not educational enough. This book only has about one sentence for each letter of the alphabet, but forget that. It's visually dazzling.

It's not about learning the alphabet (Richard Scarry's books are better for that). It's also not about learning little definitions of complex tech things (DK robot and other books are better for that). What it is about is firing the imagination with wonderful sounding words married to amazing pictures. This book does what President Kennedy in the early '60s hoped to do when he tried to excite American youth to explore science and math, and bring America into the space program.

What does excite youth? Star Wars, Transformers, Lost in Space, Star Trek, E.T., The Jetsons. In short, imaginative portrayls that broaden the mind and feed kids' natural curiosity. What doesn't excite kids? Little models of the Challenger, which fall so short of The Jetsons, dull, "educational" science kits which leave off everything fun and appeal to no one except possibly "official" adult reviewers. A is for Astronaut manages to somehow keep the kick in Cape Kennedy (or Cape Canaveral) while opening young minds to the dazzling wonders of creation. I dare say any space- minded kid will find it amazing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A is for astronaut, January 14, 2007

By 

Auntie (Long Branch, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Is for Astronaut: Exploring Space from A to Z (Hardcover)

This book is a good learning tool for future astronauts. It teaches the alphabet as well as important space terms. We read it quite often.Child is 3.