Hedgie Blasts Off!

We love all of Jan Brett's books. This one in particular is a favorite. Not only are her story lines great but the art work is incredible. This is one of the best!

At first reading, I thought this story was very awkward and did not make much sense. My daughter, however, loves it so much that we've read it every night for almost 3 weeks. We've poured over the pictures and Planet Mikkop is now a favorite place in her imaginary world. I recommend this book, even with it's clumsiness, simply because it has captured my daughter's attention like few books have - and we read a lot!

Is anyone better than Jan Brett? No. Jan Brett is awesome. Her illustrations are over-the-top great. Unmatched. Superb. In this book, Hedgie (of _Hedgie's Surprise_) returns to go on an outer space adventure. The story isn't exactly Moby Dick, friends, but who cares? The hedgehog gets to go to space and everyone learns a fine lesson about not throwing things in fountains. My favorite thing about the illustrations in this one is how all the scientists are dogs, all the reporters are birds... and how these species take on their roles without anyone mentioning it or noticing it. I just love that -- it reminds me of her _Comet's Nine Lives_ which I really liked. This book is very cute. The kids love it.

Hedgie Blasts off is a cute book about Hedgie the hedgehog, whose greatest dream is becoming an Astronaut. Currently Hediei works on the clean-up crew for Star Lab (run by a dog Professor who is in charge of Outer Space no less). As we join the story The Professor is telling Hedgie to call in all the scientists, they've got a problem with the Big Sparkler and they MUST do something about it right away! The scientist work and work and build a Rescue Robot to send out to fix the problem...but come the day of the launch Rescue Robot seems to have probed too soon (winding up in the storage closet). It's up to Hedgie to save the day and travel out to the Big Sparkler and assess the problem. Will he be able to determine what's happened to make the Big Sparkler stop working? You'll have to read to find out! Overall, this is a charming little story about never giving up on your dreams because they may come true in unexpected and unusual ways! This cute little tale is enhanced greatly by the vivid and colorful artwork that will give kids something extra to do...as it's so rich and full of detail that readers will want to pause and really get a good look at all the detail before moving on to the next page! I give it five stars, this is an excellent story book for young readers and would make a fine read aloud for ages 0-4 and an excellent beginner book for your budding reader (ages 4-6). Kids over age 6 will probably be enthralled by the art, but the story will probably not be of much interest to them.

This book is intended for children up to about seven years old or so. It is the story of Hedgie, the first hedgehog to go into outer space. He is normally the caretaker of the Zeppadoppler rocket created by his boss, "The Professor," who is "in charge of outer space." It transpires that an underground seltzerwater vent ("The Big Sparkler") on the planet Mikkop frequented by alien tourists has ceased functioning and Hedgie is sent to unclog the vent in a rather novel way, after a brief fracas with the press corps (which appears to be composed of a toucan, a cockatoo, a flamingo, and an owl.) The book is great for young kids, even though it is not especially educational about space or science, it still requires thought and could contribute to subsequent interest in these areas. The book is nicely made and I especially found the fold out page and glitter on the cover to be nice and captivating touches for young kids. The situations and characters are absorbing and the artwork is well done; I recommend this book for all future astronauts up through about third grade.