Suzanne Slade's Astronaut Annie is fantastic. Slade's descriptive language is great to use as a mentor text and my students love to learn about space from Slade.

This heartwarming-family oriented tale of a little girl who dreams of going to space is sure to make readers smile. Annie's family members all want her to be like them and she does take the best parts from them. She is brave like her grandmother and adventurous like her dad. The clever touches of having a Mae Jamison poster in Annie's room are quite nice. I also liked the addition of the "Women in Space" and "Magnificent Moon" information in the back of the book. This book will be a nice addition for next year's summer reading theme as well.

Have you thought about what you want to be when you grow up? Well, Annie sure does and she out of this world dreams! Annie is so excited when her school announces that they are having a career day. She rushes home to tell her family. Everyone has an idea of what she can be based off of their experiences. She tells all of them that they will have to wait until Friday at career day to find out. Annie uses something special from each of her family members to create her costume. On the day of career day her family is so excited to see what she wants to become, using something from each of them to accomplish it.

This is such a precious book of family, encouragement, love, and ambition. This is a great read for kids to show them how great it is to have dreams and aspirations. When I read this aloud to my students I will cover up the title so that they will have to make predictions on what Annie wants to be. This is a must read!

Astronaut Annie is a picturebook written by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Nicole Tadgell. 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.

Astronaut Annie is a picturebook that embraces and expresses the idea that you can be anything you want to be when you grow up. Anne has her own dream, but has not shared it. I love the variety of options her family encourages her to follow, and hopes for her. I found the little hints (as if the title was not enough to give it away to readers) about what she really wants to be.The illustrations are lively, and add a great deal to the story. I love that there are no limits placed on her, and while each of the people on her family have their own ideas of what her choice may be- they only offer support not pushes to follow the path they had in mind. I found the additional information in the endpapers about real women in NASA and the moon to be helpful for readers that are interested in learning about people and things involved in the dream of being and astronaut. I also liked that the sources and information for further research is also included.

Annie was getting her costume ready for her school Career Fair and wouldn’t tell her family exactly what she was going to be. Her family, however, was offering her items that they thought she might need. Annie compiles all of the items she’s been given into her perfect costume...an astronaut.

A charming story about a young girl whose heart is set far beyond her family's expectations. Career Day is coming up, where the kids dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. Annie is keeping her choice a secret from her family, though each assumes she wants to be what they were, and they give her gifts related to their jobs. Annie puts them all to use creating her most unexpected outfit, for Annie has her sight set much, much higher!

Well illustrated, and beautifully written. This is a great multicultural book, and has great lessons that girls should indeed be encouraged to pursue maths, and hard sciences. All of my cubs enjoyed this little read!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Myrick Marketing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In Suzanne Slade's Astronaut Annie, Annie is excited about career day and keeps her family guessing about what she's going to choose. Of course, we know what she has in mind because we know the title of the book! As she gathers supplies from around the house, we see hints of her ambitions: the space-themed cereal, the models of planets hanging in her bedroom, and the moon hanging in the sky.


Everyone is surprised at career night when Annie tells her story and models the space suit she has cobbled together. It may be surprising to some that an African-American girl dreams of being an astronaut, but Slade adds the stories of four real-life women who became astronauts. It is not too far-fetched for a bright, determined girl like Annie to fulfill her dreams of going into space.


Slade's story, along with Nicole Tadgell's warm and timeless illustrations, will surely inspire some little girl somewhere to think bigger and aim higher.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I haven't encountered too many books for younger girls which feature female astronauts! This one is nice. I like that the young girl has picked to be an astronaut for career day. And I liked her families contributions to her career day character even though they had no idea what she was aspiring to be. Good story! Illustrations were sweet!

Annie's school is having a Career Day, and all the kids get to dress up like what they want to be when they grow up. What will Annie be? All her family members from Grandpop to her mom give Annie something to help her build her costume for the big day. Will she be a brave cook like her grandma or a mountain climber like her dad? Her family will have to wait for Career Day to find out!

Based on the title, the reader should be able to guess what Annie wants to be when she grows up, but despite knowing ahead of time, Astronaut Annie is still worth the read. As Annie gathers supplies for her costume, she also highlights the positive attributes of her family members and brings those qualities together on Career Day.

With Career Day coming up at school on Friday, Annie has to decide how she wants to dress up. Each of her grandparents and parents ask for a hint in an attempt to determine her decision . When she gives them a clue, they give her an item (shoes, backpack, mitts, etc.) that they think represents her choice. She incorporates the items in the reveal of her choice on Career Day.

I enjoyed getting to see the clues Annie provided even though the title was a giveaway. The illustrations were well done in a muted palette. Additionally, the last few pages focus on real women that have contributed greatly toward our nation's space goals. This title would be a good addition to a public or school library.

This lovely little picture book is all about Annie, who is debating what to present at her school's career day. She has lots of ideas from her loving, supportive family. There are also some excellent author's notes about other women who excelled in their fields. This is a wonderful girl power story and the fact that the pictures show that Annie and her family are African Americans is an added bonus. I can't wait to put this one in our library.

“We’re having a career day at school!” Annie declares, hopping onto her grandfather’s lap. So begins the lovely story of Annie’s preparation to present her aspirations to her school and family. Each member of her family helps to construct Annie’s costume based on her many talents. Grandpa sees the reporter in her and gives her a camera, grandma sees Annie’s courageous cooking abilities and gives her a mixing bowl and oven mitts, dad sees an explorer and gives her a backpack, and mom sees a soaring athlete and gives her high top sneakers. Annie combines them all to create a spacesuit and proudly declares her intention to be a “famous space traveler who is fearless and bold, the world loving to hear all the stories she told.”

I was pleased to see a character who looks like me, with a loving, supportive family who recognize and celebrate her potential. The story quietly empowers our young people to think about the many gifts that they have and how they can enhance and refine them to apply to their dreams.

Annie’s story comes to life through vibrant, watercolor illustrations. The author provides brief biographical summaries of four female, American astronauts for readers seeking more information. There is also an explanation of Moon phases. Web sources are provided. Highly recommended.

A lovely childhood dream of going to space and becoming an astronaut.

Astronaut Annie is about a young girl named Annie who is preparing for Career Day at school. All week she offers hints to her family and friends about what she wants to be when she grows up. They all find out together on Career Day that Annie as chosen to be an Astronaut! This is a great inspirational story for young girls. I love that it includes nonfiction information at the end about women in space.

I think this is the perfect addition to any children's library and the multicultural section in bookstores. It's inspiring to see how the main character takes aspects she's learned from her family to reach for the sky and achieve her dream. It's definitely inspiring for any young girl.

Annie has a secret that she's going to reveal to her family on Career Day. Her family seems to think that Annie wants to grow up to be just like them, but she had bigger plans in mind—much bigger.

Look, I'm not going to lie—the reveal is pretty obvious since it's in the title. "Astronaut" is right here. However, we adults need to realize that younger kids delight in the obvious and might not put the pieces together. Plus, representation matters. What little girl wouldn't want to see another girl in a book—who looks like them—being told that there are endless possibilities out there? Who doesn't want to go to space?

So, chuck the spoilery-title right out the window and delight in the repetitive and inspiring writing, and the illustrations that capture the Annie's mischievous and adventuresome spirit, and the love of her family. Point out the "little" clues she drops along the way (and c'mon, her parents obviously knew what she wanted to do something with space long before her reveal), between the planet pops cereal (delicious), emphasis on the moon, talking of exploration and bravery, and her room, and then go back and point out to your child all of the gifts from her family Annie assembles to build her dream.

Additionally, the back has miniature biographies of pioneering American women in space, and an easily accessible factoid about the moon.

Appropriate for children ages 3-6.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Astronaut Annie is the story of a little girl getting ready for Career Day at school. In talking with the adults in her life to prepare, she begins to take a little bit from each of their careers in learning about her own. She takes story-telling, courage, flying and much more. She surprises her family by telling them she wants to be an astronaut. The end pages are wonderful, talking about women in science and space. It will be a great book to share with classes and children learning about space, impactful women, careers and much more.

I really liked this story. Annie has to do a presentation for Career Day. Each of her parents and grandparents ask her what her presentation is going to be about. She gives them a clue and they give her an item based upon what they think her choice will be. I like that the reader gets to guess along with the family (I know the title gives it away) but it is also fun to see how she uses each item they give her in her presentation. Of course this book is all about dreaming and reaching for those dreams. In a world where we are trying to encourage girls in math and science this is a great book. The back gives some basic details about four women that have been in space that were first in an area. There are also sources given to find out more about them. The illustrations are nice, colourful but not too much detail to distract from the topic being shown. I think this is a great book for family, school and class libraries.

The title kind of gives it away.

Yes, Annie wants to be an astronaut, when she grows up, but shhh, don't tell her family, who don't seem to know, oddly. They know what is important to make an astronaut though, and they are very encouraging to her, to go for her dreams, even though they each think her dream is something else.

Her grandfather thinks she wants to be a photographer, and her grandmother thinks she wants to be a baker, etc.

It is important to be able to see yourself. Representation is important. It is important that a girl has this dream. It is important that a girl of color has this dream, and it is important that her family supports her in this dream.

Hopefully kids will get a kick out of this book, which has lovely illustrations, to boot.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I really like this book but at the same time, I find myself a little critical of it as well. Annie has career day coming up at school. She is not supposed to tell anyone what she has chosen, until it’s revealed at school. Each member of her family wants her to like doing what they do. In the end she used each item her family gave her to be who she really wants to be. The illustrations are great, but this is where I get critical. Shouldn’t her family already know what their little girl wants to be by the way her room is decorated? FYI - POC and female in the sciences.