ALA Booklist (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

There's something personable and cute about the Mars rover Curiosity, and in this account of its construction and mission, Motum's illustrations phasizing the eyelike camera and playing up the jaunty angles of its body armingly render the mobile lab with lots of cheerful character. In addition to the appeal of the subtly anthropomorphized rover, this oversize picture book packs in lots of information about space exploration, including innovations making long-distance space travel possible and other Mars exploration missions, such as flybys, orbiters, landers, and other rovers currently on the planet's surface. Of course, Curiosity is the star of the show, and the rover's development, launch, terrifying landing, and continued progress on Mars propels the narrative ritten from the perspective of the robot er onward. Despite its picture-book format, the book's vocabulary, dense text, and higher-level concepts make it better suited to middle-grade readers. Motum's retro mixed-media artwork, in muted tones and stylish yet recognizable shapes, is a fantastic vehicle for this informative, inviting glimpse into an exciting STEM topic.

Horn Book (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The Mars rover Curiosity narrates this informative and handsome nonfiction picture book covering every aspect of its development, testing, launch, and exploration of the red planet. Mixed-media illustrations have a retro feel, but the book's information is forward-looking. An especially striking vertical spread depicts the Atlas V rocket launch, which started Curiosity on its journey; captioned illustrations add extensive details throughout. Timeline. Glos.

Kirkus Reviews (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The latest and greatest of the Mars rovers tells its tale and explains its purpose.Fans of the eponymous robot star of the film WALL-E will see a kindred spirit in this chronicle's narrator as it wheels its lonely way over dimly lit Martian barrens, glassy camera-eye held jauntily above its buggy-shaped chassis. Emphasizing flat, geometric shapes to give his big scenes a retro look, Motum begins with stylized views of the red planet, then briefly summarizes Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon's surface before showing Curiosity under construction, then in schematic fashion depicts each stage of the rover's launch, long voyage, and final descent. "Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars!" (An actual quote, though from a NASA official, not the fictive narrator.) The oversized trim accommodates sweeping views of space, panoramas of both the control room and Mars, and a 90-degree turn to dramatize liftoff. The narrative proceeds in a methodical, matter-of-fact way to lay out details of the rover's design and assembly—by, in the art at least, a carefully diverse crew of NASA workers—along with its space journey and what it has been up to since its 2012 landing. Suggesting that its findings are likely to provide as many questions as answers, Curiosity concludes with the thought that its wheel tracks may one day be joined by footprints. Here's hoping.The personification adds an appealing angle to this venturesome visit to Earth's closest planetary neighbor. (timeline, glossary, note on other Mars rovers) (Informational picture book. 7-10)

Publishers Weekly (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The Mars rover Curiosity narrates her own story in Motum-s handsome and engaging children-s book debut, from her construction in a clean lab in California to her multistage launch into space and landing on the red planet: -years of testing were needed to make sure everything would work correctly the first time. After all, if something were to go wrong on Mars, no one could come and fix me.- Motum-s mixed-media illustrations cleverly recall art popular during the infancy of space travel-muted colors and spare, geometric patterns compose often-diagrammatic illustrations. One close-up details the rover-s many parts: -Just like you, I have a shoulder, elbow, and wrist.- With one of its cameras resembling a large eye, Curiosity appears lifelike, almost E.T.-esque, in keeping with the first-person narrative. The book-s large trim size and expansive scenes work in tandem to evoke the vastness of star-filled skies and reddish Martian landscapes. Originally published in the U.K., this accessible look at interplanetary exploration will appeal to a broad range of young space enthusiasts. A glossary and timeline of Mars missions is included. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)