Jennifer Mattson (Booklist, Nov. 1, 2005 (Vol. 102, No. 5))
As in her earlier How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World (1979), illustrated by Marc Simont, McNulty offers another mock travel manual for children undertaking a spectacularly improbable journey. In a matter-of-fact, second-person voice, she describes trip preparations, what to expect en route and after disembarking (the tour includes a visit to Apollo 11's landing site), and the thrill of homecoming. The tousle-headed boy cast as readers' surrogate is a vintage Kellogg character, but the artist shows his more experimental side elsewhere with tie-dye-vibrant backdrops, boldly graphic compositional choices, and areas of thickly applied paint to re-create a craggy lunar surface. Whimsical details throughout, whether visual (a cameo by Kellogg and his dog Pinkerton) or textual (beverages in space must be in squeeze bags, lest one produce an "orange juice fog"), will sustain children's interest through meditative reflections on the moonscape's eerie poetry of "silence and stillness." A dramatic four-page foldout celebrating "Earth's special blessings," air and water, marks a safe landing as well as a return to Kellogg's bread-and-butter style--a riotous watercolor panorama teeming with people, animals, and green, growing things. The concluding environmental message should have been left implicit, but the single preachy note won't dampen readers' enthusiasm for the preceding journey. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2005, Scholastic, $16.99. K-Gr. 3. Starred Review

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
McNulty has designed a guide book to read “before you start” if you should decide that reaching the moon is your goal. It is filled with a goodly store of useful information, along with equal parts of imagination and wonder. From necessary provisions through suspenseful count-down out into the mystery and magic of outer space we then go. Weightlessness is an amusing experience, until the landing on the moon. Walking there is strangely effortless. “Everything on the moon is lifeless and still.” After a visit to the earlier moon landing site, it is time to head home for a safe return. The front end-pages set the emotional tone for the adventure to come, as a boy and younger girl and their pets in a peaceful landscape stare at a huge full moon with obvious reverence. The back endpapers show them exulting in the beauty of the earth as a string of cows goes into a barn under bright sky. Kellogg’s informative paintings illustrate the text with many details as our young hero floats weightless, jumps around the moon’s pock-marked surface, and even has a wonderfully colorful dream amid the celestial black. At the climax of the return, a double fold-out lovingly displays the many creatures--including humans--coexisting peacefully, leading to a final scene of the kids and pets hugging and promising to do their best “to protect all life on our beautiful Earth.” A light-hearted but effective combination of information on space flight and an appreciation of the environment of our earth. 2005, Scholastic Press, $16.99. Ages 4 to 8.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 17))
Many dream of exploring outer space, but this wonderfully engaging guide to space travel walks young readers through the adventure, starting with what to pack on the rocket ship: "Peanut butter, apples, and cake will taste good in space." Gentle warnings issued about meteors ("a collision is unlikely"); the loneliness of space ("Don't look back at the earth"); not pouring juice ("it would fly into a million drops"); and the difficulty of the first step on the Moon ("You will rise in the air and leap forward like a kangaroo") will only encourage and inspire budding astronauts. Indeed, McNulty, elegantly fusing the scientific realities and the dreamy wonders of space travel, finds the perfect partner in Kellogg who accomplishes the same thing visually. Eerily beautiful, cleverly textured moonscapes of ghostly grays and inky blacks contrast dramatically with cheerful full-color spreads (including a spectacular double gatefold) that reflect the beauty and abundance of life on Earth with sunny yellows, grassy greens and sky blues. A powerful, playful tribute to the minutiae and magnificence of space exploration. 2005, Scholastic, 48p, $16.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 7 to 10. Starred Review. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terry Day (Library Media Connection, February 2006)
Faith McNulty and Steven Kellogg are an author and illustrator team with large bodies of work and reputations that precede them. This title lives up to the talents and status of this fine team. The illustrations will be recognized by Kellogg's distinctive style and use of color. The artwork is so detailed it begs the reader to touch the pages. The author uses descriptive, imaginative language to present facts about space travel and the moon. With the help of Kellogg's artwork, the author discusses the challenges of eating, drinking, traveling, and sleeping in space with a humor that the reader will enjoy. This title is a visual and informational delight. Recommended. 2005, Scholastic, Inc, 48pp., $16.99 hc. Ages 6 to 12.

Elizabeth Bush, Reviewer (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 2005 (Vol. 59, No. 3))
For listeners contemplating a lunar journey, McNulty’s young narrator offers the lowdown on what to expect. As he suits up in his bedroom and makes his way to the launch pad, he predicts the trip will take two-and-a-half days at 3,750 m.p.h., requiring an adequate supply of sandwiches, juice, and cake, not to mention games and reading matter. There’s the heaviness at liftoff, the loneliness of boundless space, the playful buoyancy of weightlessness, the challenge of keeping your deck of cards from drifting “around the cabin like butterflies.” Upon landing (“Your craft shivers and shakes. It settles softly. You feel a bump. YOU ARE ON THE MOON!”), the boy astronaut discusses the challenge of walking in diminished gravity, the necessity of wearing a spacesuit to maintain constant temperature, the impossibility of making noise. After a long bounding stroll through the desolate moonscape, he rights the fallen U.S. flag left by previous astronauts and sets his sights on home (“Get aboard. Close the hatch and pray that the computers will start”). All goes well, of course, and the sight of the green and blue planet reminds him of the urgency of caring for this delicate biosphere. McNulty’s few lapses into fictionalization (e.g., taking off and landing in fields of green grass, without the aid of any support staff or facilities) may require some adult explanation, but she generally sticks pretty close to the facts. The demands of portraying the lunar surface and star-spangled space allow Kellogg to break free from his customary line and watercolor exuberance to dabble in grainier textures, looser brushstrokes, and an impressive depth of monochromatic shadings. A climactic foldout section of Earth in all her floral, faunal, and rambunctious kiddie glory is vintage Kellogg, though, from its chock-a-block detailing to its lemony luminescence. Gather up the armchair adventurers and prepare for takeoff. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Scholastic, 40p, $16.99. Ages 4-8 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2006)
The second-person address of this book takes readers from blastoff to touchdown and back again. McNulty's text is a union of science and lyricism, evoking both the emotions and experiences of the reader-astronaut and the hard facts of space. Kellogg's illustrations shine brightest with the space- and moonscapes, the watercolors making the most of the stark grays and whites of space. Category: Nonfiction-Technology. 2005, Scholastic, 48pp, 16.99. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.