Birthday on Mars!

"My name is Curiosity, and I live on Mars" begins this picture book narrated by the NASA robot. Curiosity explains that it has been sent to Mars by humans on Earth (who have "never been here before," Schonfeld writes) to explore the planet, reporting back every day to "tell them what I've learned and send them pictures of what I've seen." On the day the book chronicles, the one-year anniversary of the rover's arrival on Mars, Curiosity sends a special message: "It's my birthday!" Ross's depiction of Curiosity and the planet's landscape-a hardy robot living among dust clouds and hills-are inviting, with notable soft edges and warm oranges and yellows. Imparting a message about connection and friendship regardless of distance (the robot even sends a selfie), the personified robot then broadens focus from celebrating its birthday to highlighting the importance of curiosity. The shift from Curiosity the character to curiosity the concept feels sudden (a single page turn tackles the topic, another lands readers on Earth), but the pleasingly sized volume's message of resilience and community across space is winning. Back matter provides additional information about Mars and other NASA rovers. Ages 5-8. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Greetings from Curiosity, roving the red planet since 2012!With a wave of its arm, Curiosity introduces itself and the barren Martian landscape ("No humans have ever been here before. Isn't that cool?"), then, while sending a celebratory selfie back to friends on Earth, sings "Happy birthday to me"a ditty it actually was programmed to hum, though just on the first anniversary of its landing. In his blocky painted illustrations, Ross sends the excitable rover ("OopsI made a dust cloud! I guess I should slow down") trundling through a Martian sunset while extolling the virtue for which it was named, then switches planetary settings to show some of Curiosity's "billions of friends" (or a diverse crowd of them, at least) gathered in a science museum for the party. With its boxlike, six-wheeled body, single arm, and red-lensed camera on a movable stalk, the rover manages to project lots of personality. For readers who are still, well, curious, Schonfeld closes with a page of Mars and Mars rover facts, plus the news that a new rover will be on its way in the near future. With its diminutive trim, the book even recalls a birthday card.A sweet interplanetary message from a narrator who sounds for all the world like a younger version of the one in Markus Motum's more seriously detailed Curiosity (2018). (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.