Rockets

by Pavla Hanáčková, Diarmuid O Cathain

A flightless bird that wishes to fly into space? Our kiwi bird Karl will show you that you can literally reach the stars, if you are determined and work hard to follow your dreams. Together with him, the readers will learn about rockets, space travel and space itself.

Is space the number one topic you’re interested in? Would you like to learn what breathtaking objects and man-made machines are flying around out there? Would you like to become an astronaut and see everything with your own eyes? Karl the kiwi bird is interested in just that. His biggest dream is to visit space as an astronaut. Together you’ll learn many interesting things about all kinds of spacecraft. You’ll meet the most famous types and also catch a glimpse of what goes on before you even get to go to space—astronaut training and liftoff included! Join Karl in his spacecraft, get to know the solar system, and even more! Who knows what is hiding beyond our galaxy . . .

20 pages, Unknown Binding

Published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully executed book for smaller and taller humans that’s all about rockets—how they’re built, how they work, famous ones, etc—and space in general (telescopes, rovers, ISS, exoplanets, galaxies, the Solar System, Voyagers I and II, the differences between asteroids, meteoroids, and comets, etc). Will excite anyone who loves space and science. Excellent, with gorgeous illustrations; highly recommended.

Many thanks to Albatros Media for access.

[Olivia]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/rocket...

ROCKETS is a fun encyclopedic picture book about rockets. The book features a kiwi bird who wants to explore space. As he travels along, he learns the parts of rockets, famous rockets, the solar system, objects in space, and other cool facts. It begins before launch and all the way through with plenty of fun facts and an adorable kiwi to find and explore with on each page.

What I loved: There is a lot of great information throughout the book with a focus on rockets and space exploration. The pages on famous rockets and the parts of a rocket were particularly interesting, as these are not always covered in books about space for this age range. The text is a bit dense throughout, but the facts are presented in a conversional tone and with a clear font that will work well for elementary school aged readers. The illustrations are quite cool, bringing each fact to life with fun details, and the use of the kiwi to begin the story makes it a mix of fiction and fact that will work well for children who enjoy learning through fiction.

Final verdict: ROCKETS is a fun encyclopedic picture book that teaches children fun facts about rockets. This book will work well for early elementary school aged readers who appreciate some fiction while they learn plenty of cool facts about space!

Please note that I received a review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly decent book for the junior shelves of school libraries, let down by the title – it covers a lot more than rockets. Yes, it shows us how rockets work and gives us a few bits about famous ones of old, but it's so much more – the concept of alien life, our solar system's planets in comparative size as pieces of fruit (shame the visuals don't actually let us be sure what fruits they are...) and a lot besides. It rather awkwardly starts as being from the point of view of a kiwi bird called Karl who is desperate to know all about space and rockets, but thankfully his presence gets less and less relevant and he's more or less ignorable. Yes, this is one of those subjects where competition for the best book on the topic is very hard-fought, and this will be knocked out early, but if you chance on possession you shouldn't be too disappointed. Three and a half stars.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.