If I Were an Astronaut (Dream Big!) by Eric Braun

If I Were an Astronaut (Dream Big!) Reviews

• 
  Kristel

  This nonfiction books, one in the series "If I Were...", attempts to give young children a sense of what being an astronaut is like with mixed results. With illustrations rendered via digital and traditional drawing and painting, children are shown in space, as actual astronauts. This cleverly puts them in that physical place.Every picture is drawn over-exaggeratedly and large—-giving children a sense of how big and vast space is. The strikingly colored pictures really draw a deep contrast between the dark space and the light of the spacecraft’s interior. The author doesn’t explain what “G”s are until the glossary at the end (which some kids might think means 4G or 3G which is what they hear on TV and stands for gigabytes, not g-forces). When defining words in glossary, the author uses other big words like acceleration which kids might not know. Older readers may applaud the section that tells children how to become an astronaut: math, science, exercise, and believing in yourself. Author does provide a glossary, index, and a “To Learn More” section that functions as a sort of reading and website recommendations to point kids to more sources if they enjoy the topic. The publisher recommends ages 5 to 8/9 years old – 5 & 6 year olds would need assistance with the words. Not a necessary purchase for public libraries and school libraries although the great illustrations may serve a space-themed storytime well.
  
• 
  Abigail Veillon

  In this book, the author gives young readers an idea of what astronauts do while they travel through space. He shows the astronauts docking the shuttle, eating lunch together, using robot arms, and more. I think the book is well-written, but some of the vocabulary and language used may be tricked for younger children. For example, the author refers to “Gs” on one of the first few pages, and that may be confusing for students at the first of second grade level. The illustrations are large and bright, capturing the readers full attention. The colors were bold there were so many small details that brought this space shuttle to life. This book would be great resource for a science lesson on space or planets. I liked this book, but it’s not one of my favorites.
• 
  Hope Broadway

  Cute story with interesting facts.
• 
  Morgan

  Cute nonfiction story about what astronauts do. Read this one today to kindergartners for outreach and they all wanted to be astronauts after!
• 
  Jenn

  Informative and interesting.
• 
  Anbu Manoharan

  I read this with an elementary school kid. Probably a good book for K-2.
• 
  Sunday

  A very easy read - including easy to read aloud as an introduction to space exploration in 2nd grade (even preK-2) and then to leave in the classroom library for rereading. I like that the content of this book includes, in very simple prose, how crucial team work is to successful space exploration and work. The content includes reference to a space "shuttle" and it would be helpful if students knew about space stations.
• 
  Mollie B

  great for storytime
• 
  Leila

  This is a great book to talk about astronauts and gravity. It also teaches about stars and planets. It allows teachers to encourage the children to watch the stars at night and draw pictures of it.