AstroNuts Blast Off Again!

 

AstroNuts Mission Two: The Water Planet 
by Jon Scieszka; illus. by Steven Weinberg
228 pages; ages 8-12
Chronicle Books, 2020

Wildfires, floods, more hurricanes than we can name in a summer … in the midst of Climate Chaos wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could find a solution? Maybe a superhero to help us out?

Fortunately, the four super-powered animal astronauts who launched into space last year – and got captured on the Plant Planet – are belted in and ready for blast-off. Well, at least three of them have fastened their seatbelts.

Again, Earth narrates: “Time is wasting. And my climate is getting worse … And a lot of your human activities are messing with my water, which, as you know, is 71% of my surface.” 

So with ice melting, sea levels rising, coral reefs dying, and plastic pollution blemishing the oceans, the four brave and accident-prone heroes set off to seek a water planet. Something with enough land for terrestrial species. Something not too hot, not too cold, just right. A goldilocks planet.

Upon their arrival at a water planet they are heartily welcomed by a committee of clams. They are wined and dined and toured around (the best parts of) the planet. The clam committee (why, is that Senator Clam McConnell I see?) insist that their planet is perfect in every way. So why are they terribly eager to trade planets? Why are they plotting to cut off AlphaWolf’s paw? And why won’t they let the Astronuts conduct their scientific study of the planet?

And now, a word from our sponsor - Earth.

What I like about this book: I love the nuggets of science tucked into the nooks and crannies and sometimes splashed across entire spreads. I love the glitch computer and NNASA reports. And I really love that the clams have one leg, and represent historical figures: Susan B. Clamthony sports a delightful full-length boot and remains as activist as ever.

As with the first book, there’s a couple pages at the back that describe how the collage illustrations were created. And there’s a challenge for readers to create their own collage artwork, along with a link to an Astronut website where you can download some helpful printouts.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Astro-Nuts to the Rescue!

Astro-Nuts Mission One: The Plant Planet 
by Jon Scieszka  ; illus by Steven Weinberg
220 pages; ages 8-12
Chronicle Books, 2019

If you’re looking for a funny, smart book that combines climate change with a zany space adventure, then look no further. AstroNuts begins with a count-down to an emergency blast-off. Emergency, because “humans finally crossed a BIG RED LINE – putting more than 400 ppm (parts per million) of CO-2 (carbon dioxide) into my beautiful atmosphere.”

Yep, the story is told by planet Earth, and boy does Earth have a story to tell. It’s about four super-powered animal astronauts who launch into space to search for a Goldilocks planet. You know… not too hot, not too cold, juuuust right! ”Like I used to be,” says Earth. “Before you got here.”

Need a quick lesson on climate change and why 400 ppm is so important? Read this and this.

So, our mutant heroes arrive at a planet full of plants. No dangerous animals, but… viney vines wind around the rocket. Alas, our trusty Astronuts are captured by intelligent vegetation and imprisoned in a plant cell (complete with a map blueprint diagram).

Will they escape? Will they go on another mission? Will they find a Goldilocks planet before we humans set off a huge extinction brought on by our inability to moderate our addiction to fossil fuels?

And now, a word from our sponsor - Earth.

What I like about this book: I love the point-of view. I love the occasional astronaut reports, the glitch computer, and “Official NNASA transcripts”. The illustrations are fun, the presentation combines elements of comics, and there’s a bit of atmospheric chemistry tossed in. Plus I love the way the Astronuts harness the golgi apparatus and a bunch of mitochondria to escape the plant cell. There are plenty of space references some readers will appreciate and new words, such as “snotrocketing” (verb). And no, it’s not in the glossary.

There’s also a couple pages at the back of the book that describe how the collage illustrations were created. And a challenge for readers to create their own collage artwork, along with a link to an Astronut website where you can download some helpful printouts.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.