The Fly Who Flew to Space

November 1, 2024
A quick trip into space from the point of view of, literally, a fly on the wall. Flynn, a fly who lives in West Texas, has trouble focusing on lessons in school. Nevertheless, Flynn longs to become an astronaut and realizes a lifelong dream by buzzing into a space capsule just as it's about to be launched. After getting a high-five from one astronaut (which in a different, more realistic story would probably have been something other than a friendly welcome) and taking a gander with another at the planet below, Flynn returns to the surface to receive an astronaut pin and to reflect on "how learning about space helps us protect our home." Flynn, or perhaps the author, should have paid more attention to those school lessons. An astronaut wrongly claims that there's "no gravity" in space, and the three crew members (who vary in skin tone) and their tiny stowaway apparently experience no G-forces at all on launch, since the only time it's mentioned is upon reentry. The narrative is on the thin side and likely won't entice youngsters for rereads. In Stewart's elaborately constructed yet murky illustrations, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and other landmarks not visible from space without telescopic aid loom large, along with the Grand Canyon and others that are. Members of Flynn's heavily anthropomorphized fly family are depicted in shades of blue and brown. The dust jacket reverses into a skinny glow-in-the-dark poster. A hero's journey into outer space that plays fast and loose with the facts.(Picture book. 6-8)

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