Customer Reviews

You Are the First Kid on Mars

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book takes a futuristic (but realistic) look at what it might be like for a child to travel to and live on a Martian colony. The story is told from the point of view of a boy of about 10, possibly based on the author's own son, with whom the reader is invited to identify.

The boy, who is the eponymous "first kid on Mars", first travels to a space station via a space elevator, and then takes the long voyage to a Martian colony. The author goes into plenty of detail about what this journey, and life on the colony, might be like for a child. There is also an illustrated appendix of a couple of pages including some facts about the planet Mars.

My main complaint with this book is that it contains a couple of glaring scientific errors. There are two places in the book where the author repeats the widely believed but false claim that Mars is the next closest planet to the Earth. (The correct answer is Venus, which comes as close as 26 million miles to the Earth, compared to Mars's 35 million miles.) The book also claims that the reason that one would float in a space station is that "there is no gravity in space", which is not true. The correct explanation is that the space station is in orbit around the earth, which is possible precisely because there is gravity in space.

Despite these errors, I found that a very positive feature of the book was the beautifully painted illustrations. One I particularly liked was the illustration of the boy's quarters on the ship: he has a model of the rocket from the Tintin adventures "Destination Moon" and "Explorers on the Moon", which may have partially inspired this book.

YOU ARE THE FIRST KID ON MARS
PATRICK O'BRIEN
Children's Sci-Fi Futuristic
Putnam

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

YOU ARE THE FIRST KID ON MARS is a wonderfully detailed and imaginative look at what life would be like if you were literally the first kid on Mars. Filled with great digital illustrations that make the story come to life, this a perfect read for boys and anyone is interested in space and what life exploring another planet might be like.

One of the most unusual children's books I've read, YOU ARE THE FIRST KID ON MARS is also one I really enjoyed reading. Filled with fun facts about Mars, like how long the actual journey to the red planet takes and what life might be like on the space station for the months long trek there. YOU ARE THE FIRST KID ON MARS will no doubt even grab the most reluctant reader's attention with its great imagery.

Patrick O'Brien has written and illustrated non-fiction books for children as well as fun adventures such as Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery. His previous factual books have been historic and prehistoric subjects--this is his first look into the future. O'Brien lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and son.
Visit him online at [...]

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
November 2009

Sometimes when you look up into the star-studded sky at night you might see a little red dot. What you probably are gazing at is the planet Mars. If you're an adventurous kid you'd probably love to be the first one to step foot on "the red planet," but what would it be like? It's a cold place that is about "80 degrees below zero Fahrenheit," dust devils swarm around its surface, the air is thin . . . still interested? Of course you are! You'll need to get your space suit on and head over to the space elevator. The elevator car is going to take you all the way up to the space station where you begin your journey.

You're going to open a hatch and let yourself float into the station. The rocket you'll be boarding to head to Mars is called a "Nuclear Thermal Rocket." Once on board you'll be whirring through space at an amazing "75,000 miles per hour" toward your destination. Even at that speed you'll be traveling for four months. Once you arrive you'll have to dock with another space station that "stays in orbit above Mars." You'll be taking the Mars Lander down to the surface of the planet, but it will be a hair-raising ride because you'll "feel the ship shaking and jerking, and you [will] see flames shooting past the window." Do you really want to be the first kid on Mars?

This is an amazing, futuristic peek at what it might be like to actually head to Mars. The text incorporates many facts about Mars as we know them today. I liked the way the author melded fact with fantasy making this book seem totally plausible. If you remember the exploits of Tom Swift and his space exploration, just think "new" and you'll get the picture except this is much better. The phenomenal illustrations are digital and are stunningly realistic. If you've been snapping up many of the Apollo books coming out lately, you just might want to add this gem to your collection!

An ideal book for kid's avid for fact versus fiction on a space trip to Mars. Fiction is great but sometimes kids (and grown-ups too) wonder how things would really work. Dry as dust explanations don't cut it you want to feel as if you are really there, I mean REALLY THERE. And you wonder, being the first kid on Mars and all, how much would the grown-ups really let you do? Or see? Or Do?

One great thing about sending BOOKS to my great-nephew for Birthdays and Christmas is that I get to test drive them first! After all I can't send him an old boring book can I. This one definitely made the cut. TIME FOR BLAST OFF!