There are two thoughts I figure one could have when seeing the cover of Mousetronaut: Based on a (Partially) True Story by Mark Edward Kelly:
One: OMG that is the cutest thing ever
Two: OMG What is that?
C.F. Payne’s illustrations are classical them and it shows on said cover. And you love it or hate it. Feeling of if you like or dislike mice and/or if you like or dislike stories about mice will also affect your feelings on this cover.
I was, “Well that’s cute as heck…. let us read!”
The book over all is somewhat hard to describe. This book is about a mouse that is the runt but has that “certain something” that a human astronaut liked, so he chooses Meteor for the space trip. And, of course, you know that said mouse will be the one that saves the day. But other than that, trying to talk about it, you basically tell the whole story. It is a straight forward, fun and sweet story. It is family friendly (spoiler: the big excitement is the astronauts lose a key that only a small mouse can get). The viewpoint is from the mouse so that is slightly different, but not unseen before.
There is not a lot about space or even astronauts in actual the story, but at the end there is the true story behind the real Meteor and what happens when you are in space. Therefore, the space kid will have something to learn. And I get learn how a mouse is accommodated in zero-gravity, which sounds very cool. For the most part the illustrations are fabulous, but every so often there was something that “was off” for me. However, great colors and are perfect for the text. They are a story all their own.
