Astronaut Annie

About the book

Author

Suzanne Slade

Publisher

Tillbury House Publishers

Ages 4 – 7

Annie’s joyful exuberance and her family’s whole-hearted support leave no doubt that her dream is within her grasp.
Career Day is approaching, and Annie can’t wait to show her family what she’s planning to be when she grows up. But, she must keep it a secret until Friday! So curious family members each ask Annie for a clue.

Convinced that she’ll be a news reporter like he once was, Grandpop gives her his old camera and notebook to use for her presentation. Grandma is sure Annie wants to be a champion baker like her, so she offers a mixing bowl and oven mitts to Annie. Hopeful she’ll become the mountain climber he aspired to be, Dad gives Annie an old backpack. Mom presents Annie with a pair of high-top sneakers to pursue Mom’s favorite sport in high school — basketball.

Grateful for each gift, Annie cleverly finds a way to use them all to create her Career Day costume. When the big day arrives, Annie finally reveals her out-of-this-world dream to everyone.

Written by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Nicole Tadgell, this delightful story—with backmatter about black women astronauts—encourages young readers to pursue their dreams and reach for the stars.

ISBN: 978-0884485230
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2019
FORMAT: Picture book

Awards

  • PBS Books Best Children’s Picture Books of 2018
  • Brightly List Best Children’s Books of March 2018

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

As career day approaches, Annie wants to keep her job choice secret until her family sees her presentation at school. Readers will figure it out, however, through the title and clues Tadgell incorporates into the illustrations. Family members make guesses about her ambitions that are tied to their own passions, although her brother watches as she completes her costume in a bedroom with a Mae Jemison poster, starry décor, and a telescope. There’s a celebratory mood at the culminating presentation, where Annie says she wants to “soar high through the air” like her basketball-playing mother, “explore faraway places” like her hiker dad, and “be brave and bold” like her baker grandmother (this feels forced, but oven mitts are part of her astronaut costume) so “the whole world will hear my exciting stories” like her reporter grandfather. Annie jumps off a chair to “BLAST OFF” in a small illustration superimposed on a larger picture depicting her floating in space with a reddish ground below. It’s unclear if Annie imagines this scene or if it’s her future-self exploring Mars, but either scenario fits the aspirational story. Backmatter provides further reading suggestions and information about the moon and four women astronauts, one of whom is Jemison. Annie and her family are all black. A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories.

Represented by

The CAT Agency, Inc.
Publishers and art buyers should contact my agent: christy@catugeau.com