I'm normally a huge fan of Jan Brett's work, whether it's her traditional Eastern European themes or otherwise, but this book was hugely disappointing. Not only was the story of a hedgehog who wants to go to space trite and unengaging, but Brett's artwork wasn't even that good! Her animals are in her expected style, but there was no border decoration (a signature) and the background sure didn't enhance the story but instead distracted from the characters. I guess you can't win with every book, but this one was surely a miss. ( )

Cute book! I don't think it does much to teach a science lesson. It kind of teaches kids about space and traveling (but not really). I guess this wasn't really a great pick for the purpose of this weeks' reads. ( )

Hedgie works as part of a cleanup crew at Star Lab. His dream is to become an astronaut one day. The scientist that Hedgie works for are working on a robot on planet Mikkop, and they are having troubles with the robot, and they need Hedgie’s help! Hedgie is the only one who can fix the robot and save the day! Hedgie is a hero now for the astronauts and they promote him to an astronaut! This is the best day ever for Hedgie. This is a great book for a science lesson because it shows the plants, and the solar system. I love the illustrations in this book and think that children who read it will love it too! It catches the readers attention and makes a part of science interesting for children in a fun way. ( )

Hedgie the Hedgehog, who works on the cleanup crew at Star Lab, dreams of being an astronaut.

One day, the Big Sparkler on the tiny planet of Mikkop stopped erupting sparkles; Big Sparkler could only send up a weak stream of sparkles. Something had to be done right away; the sparkles were the food for the flowers. Everyone tried to work out a way to get to Mikkop to fix Big Sparkler.

When the Rescue Robot crashes, Hedgie is the only one who can fit into the rocket. Will he go? Will they find a way to fix Big Sparkler and save the flowers?

The illustrations accompanying the text, done in watercolor and gouache, are a perfect accompaniment to Hedgie’s story. Readers young and old will cheer for Hedgie in this delightfully-told tale youngsters will want to read again and again.

Highly recommended. ( )

A really nicely illustrated book about a hedgehog who really wants to go to space and ends up a hero.