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My Daddy Works at NASA

by Alli Westover
Illustrated by Brenton Packer


     A NASA scientist herself, Alli Westover has written a simple little book, My Daddy Works at NASA, that tells what daddies--and mommies--do at NASA. It shows doctors, engineers, seamstresses, fitness trainers, scientists, computer scientists, and many of the technicians and workers who are involved in training, preparing, and launching a space mission from any of the NASA locations. Westover uses simple language, placing only one sentence on a page.

Each NASA department mentioned is followed by an appropriate illustration. Brenton Packer's computer-generated drawings are cartoon-like, rendered in solid, bold colors. Some of them are outright funny, like the one of the astronaut eating his meal in space and the peas and carrots floating off his tray, or the picture of the astronauts floating weightless in an airplane! Some are serious but show the excitement of a mission launch or the grueling fitness training in the gym. All of them are whimsical. The picture of the doctor checking out an astronaut's heart has all of the things that you would expect in a doctor's office: a sink, a picture of the four food groups, a skeletal chart, canisters of cotton balls and cotton swabs. Packer adds a canister with lollipops, too. The last illustration in the book is heart-warming. It shows a tired astronaut father and his child asleep after Daddy has read a book about space.

My Daddy Works at NASA spreads the jobs at NASA among both genders, alternating what a daddy does with what a mommy does. Scientists and mission control personnel are both men and women. The physician and the fitness trainer, though, are women. Some jobs, however, are still stereotypical. For example, the seamstress and the food worker are female, while the person who builds the computers and the pilot of the weightless-inducing airplane are male. This may be less Westover's bias than it is an accurate portrayal of the gender distribution currently at most major companies, including NASA. Accuracy here helps children with parents who already work at NASA to appropriately pick out their parents' jobs. On the other hand, this also tells me women have both come a long way and have a long way yet to go.

My Daddy Works at NASA is a good read for young children. Boys and girls can realistically dream about one day working at NASA, too, just like Alli Westover did.

The Book

Baxter Press
November 2005
Picture book
1-888237-59-7
Children, non-fiction [Age Group: 3-8]
Amazon
Excerpt
NOTE:

The Reviewer

Janie Franz
Reviewed 2005
NOTE: Reviewer Janie Franz is the author of Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid!, Relaxation Techniques for Children, Relaxation Techniques for Adults; Co-author of The Ultimate Wedding Reception Book and The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book. Coming Soon: The Ultimate Wedding Workbook, Get Rich on Love, and Sacred Breath (a sound recording of relaxation meditations).
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