Review by Booklist Review
In this space-based bedtime book, two earthling boys are bedding down for the night. Meanwhile, Earth races around the sun, along with seven other planets and the dwarf planet Pluto. And on each of those worlds, alien kids are also preparing for sleep and dozing off. On Venus, Kids shimmy into deep-sleep suits / and rubberized compression boots. / They sip on warm Galactic Goop / and slurp the slime chunks, scoop by scoop. On Mercury, they squeeze together in sleep chambers for the night, while kids on Jupiter count moons on their 12 fingers and 6 toes until sleep comes. In this way, the solar system is introduced as a friendly neighborhood. While the planetary-race theme isn't well integrated with the rest of the story, the rhymed couplets keep the narrative going forward at a good pace. Well crafted, richly colorful, and dynamic, the digital artwork offers a creative take on the solar system and its amiable aliens. An imaginative picture book.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-While children race to bed each night on Earth in familiar ways, aliens have their own rituals for falling asleep. In Outer Space Bedtime Race, readers are introduced to concepts about the solar system through a rhyming portrayal of bedtime across the galaxy. The text is a healthy mix of information and downright silliness: "The Mercury kids land rocket ships, then hurry to their nightly dips. They glide along on rocky paths to steamy crater bubble baths." The trip through outer space is fancifully depicted by Won with stellar graphic art. The illustrations capture details of each planet including rings, moons, and even volcanoes. VERDICT Paired with the factoid sheet at the end of the book, this funny bedtime story will be a great companion to nonfiction books about outer space.-Megan Egbert, Meridian Library District, ID (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Aliens from the seven other planets (plus "poor Pluto") are racing to bed in their own absurd alien ways, and sleepy little Earthlings should do the same, suggests the bouncy verse. The art is pitch-perfect, with round-bodied, googly-eyed aliens contrasting amusingly with beautifully illuminated, multicolored night skies. The text suggests soothing, silly dreams; and parents won't mind the tidbits of astronomy on the side. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A melding of fact and fiction strives to present a bedtime lesson on the solar system. Two earthling children drift off to sleep as the book opens, and successive spreads describe the bedtime routines of sleepy little extraterrestrials on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Endpapers underscore the title's reference to a "race" by depicting the planets as first-through-ninth-place medals according to their respective distances from the sun. This seems to refer more to solar years instead of days with regard to the measurement of the time (how long it takes to travel around the sun, versus how long it takes for a day to pass), which muddies the bedtime theme a bit. After all, planetary days are dictated by rotation and vary in length without necessarily corresponding to the annual "race" around the sun. Backmatter entitled "Sleepy Bedtime Planet Factoids" help to ground the text in scientific facts about the planets, but this can't fully mitigate how stumbling rhymes and twee wordplay grate"Uranus is a gassy place. / They sleep with masks stuck to each face." Won's digital artwork has a retro sensibility. An isolated inclusion of a brown-skinned boy on the second spread smacks of tokenism, since all other representations of human children depict the same Caucasian boys (the children of Neptune display more diversity by comparison). Stronger bedtime and alien books abound in the universe of children's literature. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
