“Look up!” by Nathan Bryon, illustrated by Dapo Adeola is an adorable and vivid portrayal of children’s relentless passion, determination and entrepreneurship. An inspiring story of a young African American girl who dreams of becoming like Mae Jamison, the first African American woman to go into space.
The story is cute, packed with (just enough) space-related facts and vocabulary. Adults can also usefully brush up on their space and meteorites knowledge. And such a great name for a space-loving girl, Rocket! :))) The illustrations make the story so comical! Such a richness of facial expressions, and what a graphic rendition thereof. The juxtaposition of the older brother who spends all his time playing with his phone only adds to the humour of it and makes for a useful kind of messaging on all one misses by being captivated by the phone. A highly enjoyable book!
Rocket is an amazing, genuine little girl passionate about everything related to space, which gets excited about seeing the Phoenix meteor shower and does all she can to have everyone know about it and see it with her. She goes around the street and supermarket handing out flyers she handmade and reciting facts about meteors; she organises press conferences with her toy animals and drives her brother crazy. My favourite part is where she describes her preparedness for going into space; mind you, she defied gravity when swinging aaaand she built a rocket for herself: a painted cartonboard. It just makes me smile…
“Rocket” is one of little gosling’s very favorites. There are bits and pieces of the story that he evokes during the day, just out of the blue. He excitedly calls out “meteor shower”. Or says “wowsers; everyone is here”. Or mentions “telescope” or “microphone”. Little gosling’s favorite part is following Rocket’s cat, in its orange astronaut outfit, playing with its toy mice or painting with its paws. Aaand the moment the night sky lightens up with the meteor shower and the “yummy” hot chocolate Rocket shares with her brother up on the hill watching it. Little gosling loves his warm cocoa milk with honey :).
