Rocket into space! by Ragbir Bhathal & Johanna Davids
National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2012. Unpaged. Hardback.
(Age: 3-10) Recommended. This book is a pleasant surprise and much
more than I expected from the title. I enjoyed the creativity
generated through the collaboration of Ragbir Bhathal, an
astrophysicist; Johanna Davids, an early childhood educator; and the
National Library of Australia, as a National Year of Reading 2012
project. They challenge children's curiosity about the universe, in
which they live. This publication is well-written, thoughtful and
never patronising.
The adventure begins with Maddy and Jack as they set off on a rocket
journey through space. There are plenty of fascinating facts eg for
the 4 gas giant planets of our solar system we are given the
distance from the sun, time to go around the sun, average
temperature at cloud tops and atmospheric composition. As one would
expect from a 2012 publication the planetary astronomy is up-to-date
and poor Pluto is missing from the featured planets.
Quality production and design have been paramount. The predominantly
blue and silver cover is inviting, attractive... even glamorous. The
illustrations are colourful with rich, natural colours being used to
create the ambience of the world beyond our earth.
There are wheels, tabs and flaps to physically engage the young
child in the journey with Maddy, Jack and their red rocket ship. It
is not a board book, but the pages and movable parts are made from
strong card for little hands to manipulate. Fun projects include
Make a solar system mobile; Make a crater; and Day and night.
Activities include Name a comet and E. T.
There are extras, too, including information about Astronomy
resources in the NLA. At this point it would have been useful to
have clear directions to the NLA website for research purposes.
There is a comprehensive list acknowledging images used in the book,
but at times it is difficult to ascertain which image belongs to
which acknowledgement. Page numbers in this section are not helpful,
as the book is unpaged.
It is suitable for children aged 3-10 years, as a gift or as a
special Library resource.
Margaret Strickland