I heard this author speak. He is good at teaching science and this book is a good one. The science is impeccable. The illustrations are all color, 0very good and vey large, something young kids really like. There are many sidebars of additional information to enrich the learning and interest. Illustrations measure 10.5 by 11 inches, really big. Except some illustrations are two pagers, so almost poster size. The author makes room in the illustration for the text so there is room for both. The book runs 32 pages so is short enough to read as a bedtime story to very young kids.

Max Dog is the main character, a very friendly dog who can understand most of what his human friends want to get across to him. The astronauts all like Max, he is a good companion and he helps out when in space. This book is part of a series. The sidebars provide detailed science and extend the suitable age reading up into and through primary school grades. ( )

Cute story. Information in the side boxes might be more appropriate for an older reader than the story would suggest, but still good information. ( )