SPACE

A voyage to the moon, with surprises
hidden behind large flaps along the way.

Astronauts Danny and Daisy blast off
with a lift of the first flap (“Liftoff! Bye-bye, Daisy and Danny”), race
another rocket that’s hiding behind a space station (“Peekaboo!”), discover
Rilo the Robot in a locker, glimpse a pair of shy ETs, and finally plant a
generic Earth flag on the plasticine moon next to a plaque with friendly
greetings. Made from plugs of soft-looking material with rounded edges and
brightly colored painted details, all of the spacesuited figures sport smiles,
and all—including the three-eyed ETs—are differently hued. The rhymed narrative
doesn’t exactly soar (“The moon is really close now. / It’s a great big ball of
rock. / Is something hiding behind it? / Watch out! You might get a shock”), but
fanciful as the flight may be, no laws of physics are actually broken, and
exposure to such vocabulary as “launch tower” and “cockpit” may give diapered
STEM-winders a boost.

Relentlessly perky but, like other
outings in this high-fructose series, not entirely empty calories. (Pop-up
board book. 1-3)