Luz Lucero, niña astronauta

Gr 1-3–A sweet and informative bilingual picture book that details the training a girl astronaut has to undergo to make it to space. Texan Luz Lucero, only eight years old, is selected as the first kid to ever go to the moon. She must endure strenuous prep, meeting a mechanical engineer, food scientist, scuba diver, linguist, flight controller, lunar scientist, computer programmer, and space suit engineer, learning about each aspect of space travel along the way. Sometimes the nonfiction aspect of the narrative bogs down the tale, but kids fascinated by the subject will happily push through. The majority of the diverse crew of experts are women. Luz is depicted as a wavy-haired girl with light brown skin, red glasses, and a chipped tooth, reminiscent of Encanto’s Mirabel. The digital art is bright and saturated with vivid pinks and indigos, with Luz’s wonder obvious on every page. The font has a futuristic, sci-fi feel, adding to the overall experience. Author and illustrator’s notes in the back matter encourage kids to pursue STEM fields.