My 8yo enjoyed this book. We read it digitally and it was easy to understand. I thought it was perfect for digital, I’m not sure I would enjoy it as much as a physical book.

An interesting book about spaceships: the models of spaceships exist in the world, how to build one, and necessary components a spaceship must have. With easy wordings and images, this book make the facts of spaceships understandable for young kids.

The content was informative and interesting. The layout could use some work. Looked like a PowerPoint presentation more than a book.

I was obsessed with space as a kid and went to space camp, so I would have loved this as a kid and I know that kids now will too. This book tells the history of spaceships with the US and the Soviet Union in the 50s & 60s all the way to the most recent with Space X and Boeing. It breaks down all the parts of a spaceship with both real and illustrated images as well as explains how they work and the materials they are made out of. This is a great book for kids interested in space and engineering and is a great starting point to get kids into stem. It's easy to understand with short pages to keep the attention span.

Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

An introduction and brief overview of real spaceships; their history, construction, and uses. It's a very thorough but brief overview. What I mean is that if you are looking for detail of any kind, you will need a more specific source.

My ebook copy did not include a children's grade level, but it talks about specific metals and their strengths, solid vs other fuels, and traveling at the speed of light. Those topics should be a good indicator of whether your child is ready for this book.

I enjoyed the book. The photos and illustrations were interesting, the questions at the end were good, and the information is well organized and presented. As an introduction, it's very good.

I do, however, wish I had known it was an introduction to the subject of American spaceflight. Rather than a more detailed look at spaceship design, materials, etc., with accompanying photos.

After all, kids can buy a book of Star Wars ship blueprints with descriptions (which nobody expects of the real thing), but something a bit more substantive than "launch, orbit, landing."

Oops!
•"Use of a Spaceship" and "The Space Age" pages have identical text.
•Figure 25 on page 31 is unreadable on an iPhone, although all other figures have clear print at that size.
•Page 37 says "in case Earth becomes inhabitable." Which, I believe it already is.

4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the free preview of this ebook. The review is voluntary.

#RealSpaceships #NetGalley

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Real Spaceships is a non-fiction children’s book. It introduces spaceships and space travel in a basic but informative way. It is broken up into 10 sections that can be used as separate lessons or the book can be read all at once. There is a short quiz at the end of the sections.

I think this book could have been formatted better. There is not a lot of clear divide between sections. I think it would be more helpful to have a short quiz for each section rather than one at the end. A glossary of terms would have also been helpful.

Real Spaceships would be a good option for a child who already has some interest in space travel. It is not comprehensive but covers the bare minimum for an introduction into the subject.

I was interested in reading this book because of its cover. At first, I thought this book would be full of illustrations, but I was wrong. It uses a real picture. That would be misinterpreted by looking at the cover of the book alone. It also stated that this book is suitable for children aged 5 to 13 years old. Personally, by looking at the content, I don't think older children (aged 12 and above) will like this book.

They were using an overlaying technique, where they put illustrations at the back and the real photo at the front. Which to me, is kind of disturbing. That is why I said that key stage 3 students wouldn't enjoy reading this book.

However, this book is a great introduction to space. There is a lot of vocabulary that they can learn, as well as science terms. The subjects in this book are spaceships, astronauts, and space travel.

The perfect book for children who have an interest in science and space. It is very educational and also easy to understand.

Very educational and easy to understand! This book is great for introducing kids to ideas about space and science. I will be recommending my library purchase this for our juvenile non fiction section. The illustrations were nice too!

My sons really liked this book. It's a very simple book that was just perfect for my 8 year old who loved the pictures and the fact that could read it by himself.

I adore books about space. This one is simple and I enjoyed how much it covered. Informative and easy to read.

Sometimes I felt the layout with certain images was a little visually unappealing. I loved the cartoon illustrations, but the use of both real life images and cartoons was a little jarring. I think it would be better using only one and not the other as well.

The age range is also very strange. You really cannot make a book suitable for both 5 year olds and 13 year olds.

This book is great for kids who are interested in space! We live near a SFB and we get to watch a lot of rocket launches, so this book was actually perfect for teaching my kid (and me!) more about what we are watching. It covers spaceships, astronauts, and space travel. Overall it is an educational book that is great for learning more about rockets and space travel history.

A simple timeline of space travel with non-cluttered pages. Hardly an exhaustive text, but just a smattering of the basics to spark some interest in kids. Decent for younger grades, I wouldn't recommend it for any kid above 6th grade. Some glaring errors knocked a few points off of my rating. References are all digital and recently accessed.

Perfect book for older kids to learn about space and spaceships. It has a lot of new vocabulary words to learn and practice and great illustrations.

My Grandson is mad on space; I read this book with him, he will be 4 years old in March.

Without doubt the book is intended for an older child but his interest was maintained for the first half of the book. I am certain the information, pictures and diagrams will be understood and enjoyed by the intended age-range. We had some good interactions and chats around this fascinating subject. If he could travel in a spaceship he’d like to go to Pluto. So he’s on point and keeping up.

The author has a great desire to educate and allow kids to learn in a fun and inclusive way. I feel his use of diagrams are clear and the technical definitions are shared in language a child will be comfortable with and that will encourage them to learn more. As stated a shared experience with younger children will be prompted to talk about the subject and ask questions.

I liked the section of fun facts and the short quiz to test an initial grasp of the basics. As this is a developing and changing area of science, I thought it covered the subject historically well and give impetus to share the adventure in the future.

A well informed and comprehensive insight into the world of space exploration and opportunities the future holds.

I was excited to grab this book to read with one of my students who is obsessed with all things space! He is a third grade student who enjoyed the interesting facts and pictures throughout the book. It was perfect for his age group!

As a teacher, I don’t think I would recommend it to the older age group that it’s marketed for. Ages 8-11 are probably the perfect age bracket, and the elementary-type illustrations would most likely be a turn off for a 12-13 year old. Of course every child is different!

I also expected more “lessons,” since that was written on the cover, so I was a bit disappointed in not having that expectation met.

As far as the book goes, it was great and I’ll buy a copy for my classroom when it comes out! The marketing for it, though, might need some adjustment.