A is for Astronaut by Clayton Anderson and Scott Brundage

A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet
by Clayton Anderson, with art by Scott Brundage [jP Anderson]

Nebraska’s one-and-only astronaut, Clayton Anderson, is back with a new book. Unlike his excellent autobiography, The Ordinary Spaceman, for adults, this one is aimed at a young audience. A is for Astronaut is an alphabet book, with each page (or sometimes pair of pages), dedicated to a single letter of the alphabet, from A to Z. However, in this case, all the words Anderson and illustrator Scott Brundage are using as examples, have to do with space exploration and science. Each letter gets a short, rhyming poem, but each also gets a sidebar with detailed information about the scientific concept being covered. Brundage’s art nicely complements Anderson’s poems and essays, and in several cases is downright beautiful. If you’re looking to inspire a little one with uplifting ideas about what they could personally accomplish, I think this book for earlier readers would be a great suggestion — and you can let them know that the author is the only person from Nebraska who’s made it into space as an actual astronaut!

[ Wikipedia page for Clayton Anderson ] [ official Clayton Anderson website is blocked by library security software ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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