Touchdown Mars!
The authors, a teacher and a research scientist, make their children's book debuts in this uneven alphabet book chronicling an expedition to Mars. Opening with the words "You are an astronaut!" the narrative places readers among the eight-member crew of youngsters (and one spacesuit-wearing cat) boarding a Mars-bound rocket. As the spacecraft soars through the atmosphere, a number of the alphabetically driven entries are inconsequential and strained (e.g., for the letter D, "You are going up  up  up  in the right direction"; and for F, "Your journey will take you very far"). Additional, boxed text on each page offers more solid information, but it is often either hypothetical ("You may find that most of the rocks are similar to the ones you can find on Earth. Many of the rocks might come from lava flows and volcanoes") or leaves readers hanging ("You pick at layers of bright, crumbly rock with a rock hammer. You examine fragments with a magnifying glass. What do you see?"). A concluding "Mars A-B-Cyclopedia" will likely be appreciated more by a considerably older reader than that of the elementary narrative. Chesworth's (Archibald Frisby) watercolor and ink pictures inject some spark, but rely on a more somber, textbook-like palette to portray the young astronauts' activities within the spacecraft and their exploration of Mars. Ages 4-8. (May)Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.