Professor Astro Cat's Intergalactic Activity Book

Great book. Very informative. I bought the whole series.

Outstanding! Head and shoulders above other routine activity books. Bought this for a gift. My college age daughter appropriated it and I had to order a second one!

From the time your child opens “Professor Astro Cat’s Intergalactic Activity Book” and finds a box containing spaces to personalize this volume through the final Part Four, they can learn about the universe but can also create their own vision of outer space. Written and edited by Zelda Turner and illustrated by Ben Newman, sections contain between eight and eleven activities for your child to complete.Part One - “Cadet Training” - introduces the child to information about outer space and activities related to prelaunch learning. Each of these is contained on two facing pages. Subsequent parts include “Watching the Skies”, “Rocket Science” and “Space Missions”. Each of these subsequent parts is arranged similar to “Cadet Training”. Activities may be something the child is to draw or create, some require them to attempt a task, or information they can memorize. Boxes containing either “Space Facts” or a “Tip” are given for several of these activities.Examples of some activities included in the book are as follows: designing a workout machine to use in space, using a word bank to figure out what Russian cosmonauts are saying, signaling using Morse Code, designing a robot, matching descriptions to the correct planet, making a star gazer, inventing a new constellation, planning a time capsule, building a balloon rocket, a blind taste test, keeping a space diary, and communicating using a code. Materials needed to perform the activities may be found in most homes. For those requiring adult assistance, directions are given for the adult as well as for the young "astronaut".Zelda Turner’s text is not difficult, nor will it overwhelm a child with too much information. I found that the instructions for activities are clear and simple to understand. Ben Newman’s cartoon-style illustrations are colorful and add to the overall quality of “Professor Astro Cat's Intergalactic Activity Book”. While most appear “flat” having little shading or dimension, they have a feeling of joy and fun making them an important contribution to the book. Targeted at readers between ages 7 – 11 years, the book is appropriate for slightly younger children who are more advanced readers and interested in outer space.I loved the combination of educational material, imaginative activities, and focus on science and outer space of “Professor Astro Cat's Intergalactic Activity Book”. My seven-year old grandson was fascinated by the information and wanted me to find another book “just like this one”. Definitely a 5-star book, and one that I will be recommending to others.

Astro Cat is a fun little book. It does have a particular downside. My wife thought from some of the graphics that it was going to be too young for my son, but, the wording used was at the upper end of his reading ability. SO there can be a bit of a mismatch there.It has a lot of fun things to do. One example is that the author suggests that the child find out how hard it is to manipulate things in a space suit. She instructs the child to time themselves doing some routine actions, and then put on three pairs of gloves and try to do the same routine actions and see how long it takes.This is a simple experiment, but it does require a stopwatch (any smartphone), and three pairs of gloves. Its easy enough to substitute on the routine actions. One supposes that in a pinch the child can count by themselves (one-mississippi, two-mississippi style).My point here is that I think before leaving this with your child you should really go through and find all the materials they need ahead of time. This will make it much more enjoyable.Overall I think its a great activity book. Sure, there are the typical drawing assignments but the author clearly tries to think outside the box to create other activities that are new experiences.

Professor Astro Cat's Intergalactic Activity Book is a wonderful exposition and workbook for children interested in space exploration. The book, nine by eleven inches and eighty six pages, is filled with color illustrations and workpages to be used by the future space astronaut. The theme is carried forward by Professor Astro Cat, who is often accompanied by an orange female cat friend, a mouse friend and other animals.The story is divided into sections, which contain subject matter on astronaut training, space science, astronomy, and the space mission itself. All of the illustrations are block colored, with large clear text. Many interesting activities are presented.Among my favorites is a zero-gravity space treadmill in the training section. The aspiring astronauts are given space to design their own space workout machine.In the astronomy section, there are descriptions of star formation, our solar system, and black holes. The mouse is shown being drawn into a black hole, but no problem, he reappears a few pages later.The science section includes an experiment that the young astronauts can do with a chocolate bar and a microwave oven to determine the speed of light. I have not tried it, but I think that it should work, although if you overcook the chocolate bar, there may be some cleanup required. Adult supervision is a good idea for this project. If Ole Romer had a microwave oven and a chocolate bar, he could have produced a more accurate measure for the light speed using this very simple method.The science section also has an experiment using beans to grow your own food in space. I did this once for a school project, without thinking about a space mission. I do grow potatoes now, not unlike the potato farm, which plays such an important role in the movie,  The Martian .Altogether, I think that this book is well organized and presented. It should be fun for children who are space or science oriented,

The book looks pretty good, my son is already familiar with Astro Cat. However, vacations are over so we will take on the activities on a later date.Much recommended activity book.