Alafaci, Marie. Zelda’s Big Adventure, PICTURE BOOK.
Clarion Books, 2016. $16.99.
Zelda has a plan to be the first chicken in space. She asks her farmyard buddies for help, but they all turn her down. She decides that if she is going to get something done, she is going to do it herself. She builds the rocket, sews her space suit, and blasts off all on her own. When she returns, she decides that space travel turned out to be pretty lonely, so next time, she is going to make it so her friends can come along. This book did not appeal to me. All of Zelda’s friends were really unhelpful. Zelda is made out to be somewhat unintelligent (so how did she build a rocket all on her own?!). The construction of the rocket and preparations for space are completely omitted and you’d think that would be an intriguing part of the book.
The thing that irritated me most was that when Zelda returned home, her friends all take credit for her work. I thought maybe it would turn out to be a Chicken Little type of situation, but she ends up wanting to bring them with her next time anyway. There wasn’t much that was logical about the story and the build up/climax felt all wrong. I think young readers will be very aware of the weaknesses in the story.
PRE-K, EL (K-3)- OPTIONAL. Reviewed by Shay, School Librarian
Zelda has a plan to be the first chicken in space. She asks her farmyard buddies for help, but they all turn her down. She decides that if she is going to get something done, she is going to do it herself. She builds the rocket, sews her space suit, and blasts off all on her own. When she returns, she decides that space travel turned out to be pretty lonely, so next time, she is going to make it so her friends can come along. This book did not appeal to me. All of Zelda’s friends were really unhelpful. Zelda is made out to be somewhat unintelligent (so how did she build a rocket all on her own?!). The construction of the rocket and preparations for space are completely omitted and you’d think that would be an intriguing part of the book.
The thing that irritated me most was that when Zelda returned home, her friends all take credit for her work. I thought maybe it would turn out to be a Chicken Little type of situation, but she ends up wanting to bring them with her next time anyway. There wasn’t much that was logical about the story and the build up/climax felt all wrong. I think young readers will be very aware of the weaknesses in the story.
PRE-K, EL (K-3)- OPTIONAL. Reviewed by Shay, School Librarian
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