'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Monday 21 May 2018

Review: Blast Off!

Blast Off! is a super-fun whirlwind of fact and fiction by super-duper talented Shelly Unwin and Ben Wood.

In Blast Off!, two kids and their dog head off on a space adventure.

They explore every planet in our solar system and learn about their unique features before zooming back home again.

Written in rollicking rhyme, the story is great fun to read aloud, and the fantastic facts about each of the planets make this a wonderful picture book for kids eager to learn about space.

Venus is the brightest, its clouds are hot and thick.
Don’t go near this rocky place — the smell will make you sick!

The illustrations, too, are brilliant. Wood's style is funky, zany and colourful — very engaging for kids. The characters are a hoot, their antics are funny and their expressions are outrageous and spectacular. There are also cheeky aliens hiding amongst the pages, and some of them are rather tricky to find!

At the bottom of each page you will also find small pictures of all the planets in order of their location in the solar system. A bright red arrow points to the planet each page is focussing on, so kids get a fantastic visual of where planets are in relation to each other.

I love everything about this picture book. The story is fun AND informative, there are bonus facts at the end of the book for little astronauts-to-be, the rhyme is perfection and the illustrations are superb.

Blast Off! is a wild adventure through space every kid is going to adore.

Title: Blast Off!
Author: Shelly Unwin
Illustrator: Ben Wood
Publisher: Penguin Random House, $19.99
Publication Date: 30 April 2018
Format: Hard cover
ISBN: 9780143785040
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book