How do astronauts live and work in space? Where do they sleep and what do they wear? Award-winning children’s science writer Deborah Lee Rose tackles these and other questions in a lively new picture book – Astronauts Zoom! – aimed at inspiring the next generation of engineers and explorers.

Maya Miller, a Maryland fourth grade student and aspiring engineer/inventor, has our exclusive eGFI review:

Astronauts Zoom! Is a great book for little ones just learning their ABCs, kids interested in outer space, or even just people who want to know what it would be like to be an astronaut. Join the astronauts as they go through their day on the International Space Station, from A (awaking) to Z (zipping up for the night).

I personally love Astronauts Zoom! because I want to be an astronaut, and this book is one of many ways to learn about an astronaut’s life. There are even pictures of real astronauts going about their everyday life! There are some facts that will blow your mind, like the fact that some of their day is not that different from ours!

The author, Ms. Deborah “Deb” Rose (author of many children’s books such as Beauty and the Beak and Astronauts Get Dressed) came to a Zoom meeting at my school with all three third-grade classes and read her book to us!

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Deborah Rose’s work and related STEM activities have been featured in several eGFI blog posts. The latest was a 2020 feature on the engineering behind the International Space Station’s famed cupola – a panoramic “window on the world” from which astronauts snap photos of Earth. That blog post was based on her article for ASEE’s Prism magazine marking the 20th anniversary of humans living in space.

Like her previous books, Astronauts Zoom! includes activities that can be done at home.

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Tags: astronauts, Astronauts Zoom, children's STEM books, Deborah Lee Rose, International Space Station ISS, Maya Miller, NASA, space exploration, STEM books for preschool students and early readers, student book reviews