Hedgie Blasts Off!
PreSchool-Grade 3–Hedgie the hedgehog is back. Aspiring to become an astronaut, he works as a member of the cleanup crew for the Star Lab run by the Professor (a dog), who is the smartest scientist on Earth and in charge of Outer Space. On the tiny planet of Mikkop, an erupting crater called the Big Sparkler, a popular tourist attraction, is inexplicably slowing down. The Professor orders his team to build a small spaceship that can carry a robotic astronaut into space to assess the problem. When the robot malfunctions, Hedgie is the only one who can fit into the vehicle, and off he zooms. Bretts color illustrations are filled with humorous details, including eager reporters (an owl, a flamingo, a toucan, and a cockatoo, whose postures convey their avid impatience) and whimsical spaceships filled with comical alien tourists. Small groups can easily view the richly hued art, although many scenes merit closer inspection. Children will cheer for this intrepid hedgehog as he solves the problem of the plugged crater.–Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.