School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2021)

K-Gr 3 Burton's bright scenes of many of the places the astronaut and author Kelly has slept while growing up with dreams of spaceflight create cozy alcoves from straps and cords, as well as tents and submerged structures. Kelly tells in quite lyrical language of his and brother's childhoods and journeys to space: "Sliding silently through the sea, we patrol the depths under the crushing weight of water, safe in a long metal tube with no day and no night." They were active, busy children dreaming of space, and doing the hard work to get there; Kelly spent time as a sailor, a pilot, an aquanaut, and finally an astronaut. Burton's digital illustrations add magic and wonder to the text in full- and half-page spreads, depicting scenes under the northern lights, and in a spaceship, just to name two. The narrator concludes by encouraging readers to dream big. This book is a beautifully written, making a prominent figure readily accessible to children. VERDICT A necessary purchase and thoughtful meditation, for avid fans of space exploration and newbies alike. Kelsey Socha, Westfield Athenaeum, Westfield, MA

Kirkus Reviews

From childhood, an astronaut dreamed of adventurous exploration.Famed NASA astronaut Kelly played imaginative games with his twin brother, Mark (also an astronaut), from the time they were kids, presaging both men's future space careers by wearing cardboard-box helmets. Their mother supported their high-flying dreams at bedtime. Ever entranced by the sky, the brothers imagined aboveground adventures in the backyard treehouse and on a family cruise, where they fantasized about being weightless as the boat was tossed by the waves. In adulthood, Kelly undertook hardier journeys, and his dreams continued to spark his longings for space navigation: He steered Navy vessels and piloted jets; camped out in icy climates and explored the seas; and climbed Mount Everest. Kelly attained his astronaut goal by joining the crew of the space shuttle Discovery, then earned renown for his yearlong stint on the International Space Station. Though Kelly acknowledges home is best, he encourages readers to dream about having adventures; a charming concluding illustration features a brown-skinned girl dreaming of myriad possibilities. The engaging, gently poetic text describes the author's ambitious, lifelong skyward trajectory and his stops along the way to space, helping youngsters understand what goes into astronaut training. Colorful, appealing illustrations capture Kelly's fascinating odyssey, beginning in childhood, and the starry reaches of space. Scott and Mark Kelly present White; some background characters are people of color. The backmatter includes two pages of color photos. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 49.9% of actual size.)A captivating tale guaranteed to keep youngsters wide awake in wonder. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Kelly-s second picture book starts as a memoir and ends as a motivational treatise. He begins in his childhood bedroom and backyard, where he and his identical twin play at being astronauts, then moves to his growing independence as a teenager, his Navy service, and his rigorous astronaut training. The storytelling strives to create an arc by connecting the many sleeping places that Kelly has occupied throughout his adventurous life, a final page landing readers in the bedroom of another child dreaming of an interstellar career. But text that-s overly assumptive about readers- familiarity with Kelly muddles this interesting life-s trajectory. Burton-s cheery digital cartooning provides narrative ballast, grounding the story in a counterbalancing realism. Ages 3-7. (Feb.)