In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969 the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided) the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows-beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.Īddressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings ( Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. The child’s family, depicted as black, moves in the background of the setting, which is also populated by a multiracial cast.Ī lovely encouragement to young writers to persist. The child’s main character is an adventurous mermaid who looks just like the child, complete with afro-puff pigtails, representing an affirming message about writing oneself into the world.

The illustrations feature the child’s writing and drawing as well as images of imagined events from the book in progress bursting off the page. Finally, the writer sits in the same field, in a new season, sharing the story with friends. Plotting, writing with detail, and revising are described in child-friendly terms and shown visually, in the form of lists and notes on faux pieces of paper.

The young writer must then choose a setting, a main character, and a problem for that protagonist. This follow-up to How To Read a Story (2005) shows a child going through the steps of creating a story, from choosing an idea through sharing with friends.Ī young black child lies in a grassy field writing in a journal, working on “Step 1 / Search for an Idea- / a shiny one.” During a walk to the library, various ideas float in colorful thought bubbles, with exclamation points: “playing soccer! / dogs!” Inside the library, less-distinct ideas, expressed as shapes and pictures, with question marks, float about as the writer collects ideas to choose from.

How to Write a Story by Kate Messner