Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy.

One look at the googly-eyed astronauts on the cover of this book and you will be charmed.  So will children, guaranteed.  This book is a picture book handbook for future astronauts, covering the various types of astronauts, fitness tests, working well with others, practicing with machines used in space, weightlessness, food, and even space toilets.  Children will have many of their basic questions answered and some will be inspired to seek out more detailed books.  This is a friendly introduction to what being an astronaut is all about.

Written at exactly the right approachable level, the book offers details only when they will intrigue children.  For example, McCarthy wisely has a very detailed page on both the spacesuit and the space toilet.  At other times, McCarthy focuses on the variety of backgrounds and projects that astronauts are part of, opening children’s ideas about what an astronaut really does.  The illustrations are cartoony and friendly.  McCarthy has plenty of women and people of color throughout.

Recommended for all public libraries and for any 4-6 year old who thinks they want to be an astronaut when they grow up.