Blast Off

An inspiring story about a young Black girl who wants to be an astronaut, written years before Black astronauts were sent into space. This remarkable picture book has been out of print for decades, until now. First published in 1973, a year after the final Apollo mission, when American astronauts were exclusively white and male, Blast Off is the story of a young African American girl with a vision and a mission. Regina Williams wants to be an astronaut. One day she’s drawing a picture of a rocket ship on the sidewalk when her friends come by and start to tease her. “You’ll never be an astronaut,” they say. In reply, she builds her own spaceship with old boxes, pipes, and cans. Before long she’s in space, her eyes wide with wonder at the smallness of the blue-green Earth, the blackness of space, the stars and satellites. When she comes back down to earth, her friends don’t believe her, but she knows her dream is real. An inspiring story of interstellar space travel with illustrations by the legendary Diane and Leo Dillon.

Adventure into space with this playful oversized board book.

A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids The inspirational story of Mary Sherman, the world's first female rocket scientist, who overcame gender barriers and many failures to succeed. Growing up in the 1920s on a dirt-poor farm in North Dakota, Mary Sherman's life was filled with chores--until she finally began school and discovered she loved to learn. Mary excelled at science, especially chemistry, and leaped at the chance to work in a laboratory during World War II designing rocket fuels. And when the US decided to enter the space race, Mary was chosen over her male colleagues to create the fuel to launch a rocket carrying America's first satellite. With courage and perseverance, Mary's hard work and calculations paid off, opening up a brand-new frontier for exploration. This STEM biography of an unsung and courageous woman in science will inspire and motivate young readers.

The toys have found a spaceship! Now they only need to figure out who will be the lucky one to go into space. Jim Giraffe is too tall to fit, Sally Sheep is afraid of the dark and Chickadoodle is just too little! Who will make it all the way through the countdown?

Tommy, Chuckie, and Angelica wile away a long, tedious car trip by pretending to be astronauts on their way to the moon.

Discover Math Matters! With over 15 million books sold worldwide, this award-winning series of easy-to-read books will help young readers ages 5–8 approach math with enthusiasm. Great for fans of MathStart or Step into Reading Math. Can James collect 10,000 energy bar wrappers and win a trip to Space Camp? Everybody gives him their wrappers. But how can he count them all? Will he have enough? With engaging stories that connect math to kids’ everyday lives, each book in the Teachers’ Choice Award–winning Math Matters series focuses on a single concept and reinforces math vocabulary and skills. Bonus activities in the back of each book feature math and reading comprehension questions, and even more free activities online add to the fun! (Math topic: Place value)

When a mysterious spacecraft lands in a nearby pasture, the lovable, blundering sheep get in gear for the ride of their lives! Unfortunately, these sheep don’t know the first thing about piloting a spaceship . . . but there may be someone else on board who does! Readers will have a blast with Nancy Shaw’s clever rhymes and Margot Apple’s hilarious illustrations in this latest Sheep adventure.

"Are you ready to explore? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... Rocket through the solar system in this funny, fact-filled whirl around the planets. Join two junior astronauts as they discover what makes each planet unique and what might happen if you were to get too close. 'You couldn't land on Mercury - the heat would burn your bum!'Written in rollicking verse and beautifully illustrated, Blast Off is an enticing mix of narrative and information."--Provided by publisher.