Space Boy and His Dog

Here’s my selection for Perfect Picture Book Friday:

Space Boy and His Sister Dog
Written by Dian Curtis Regan
Illustrated by Robert Neubecker
Boyds Mills Press, 2015
Fiction
Suitable for: ages 3-7
Theme/Topic: Sibling Rivalry, Imaginary Play

Opening Spread: Niko lives on Planet Home with his dog, Tag, and his copilot, Radar.

Brief Synopsis: From SpaceBoyBooks.com:
Niko built his very own space ship. He blasts off on an
important mission in outer space–with his toy robot,
Radar, his trusty dog, Tag . . .
. . . and a sneaky stowaway–
a stowaway who is
SO NOT SUPPOSED
to be in Niko’s story.

Resources: Teaching Guide will be here soon.  Pinterest has lots of great ideas on how to make a rocket ship. You can have your own adventure with or without siblings, but I suggest taking a dog and robot for extra fun.
Why I Like This Book: Niko has a vision for his story. He has adventures in his spaceship with his dog and robot, but NOT HIS SISTER Posh. It’s a fun twist on the sibling rivalry book. While looking at Dian’s website, I thought this line from a School Library Journal review was spot on:  “A good read-aloud to highlight strong female characters and discuss sibling rivalries.” Posh is a stowaway, a problem solver, and determined. The illustrations are cute. I like the reinforcement of numbers. Niko has eight steps on his adventure. It’s very natural for his mission and character. Enzo loved reading when Niko returns to the moon for Posh.
I met Dian in 2013 at Big Sur in the Rockies. She was one of the published authors at the retreat. She’s a multi-genre author — picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels and young adult novels. She spoke at RMC-SCBWI conferences too. She’s talented, kind, and a wonderful storyteller. Space Boy will be a series. We look forward to Niko and maybe Posh’s future adventures.

Thanks to our Pikes Peak Library District’s event Mountain of Authors, the Easter Bunny has placed Dian’s books in Enzo’s basket for two years in a row. Enzo pointed at pictures of the book covers on Dian’s bookmark and said,  “We’ve read that book before.” The Snow Blew Inn  … you might like that one too.
For more PPBF books, visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s Blog.

April is always my busy month due to my volunteer work with the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. This is my second year overseeing the silent auction on site. It’s a lot of work, but the reward is raising money for an organization that helps writers — through free monthly workshops, networking events, and the annual conference — a paid event that is top notch! And, part of the auction proceeds fund conference scholarships.

While I feel guilty when I can’t make it to every PPBF blog post, I have several books to add to the PPBF list. I look at the list each week and often will put books on hold at my library based on that alone. I trust and love the PPBF recommendations for our family (and for my own picture book study).

Hubby continues to recover from his hip surgery too. That’s added a little bit of “forget the To Do list” on several days. When he scheduled the surgery, I knew I would need to be flexible and have given myself permission to do so. So after conference, query one-on-ones with an editor, and revisions of my own manuscripts, I hope to be back in full swing in May.

Hope you have a wonderful week.