A very good introduction to the exploration of space by humans and robots, with detailed hand-drawn illustrations that remind me of my favorite David Macaulay books. It begins, as my own journey into space did, with Voyager's grand tour of the outer solar system, then steps back into time to the start of recorded astronomy in China. Throughout the book, Exploring Space gives all space-exploring and star-watching countries their due, with appropriate attention to the contributions of the U.S., Russia, Europe, China, Chile, and Japan. I was particularly pleased to see beautiful drawings of spacecraft like Magellan, Venera, Lunokhod, and Huygens, which are almost never mentioned in children's space books. The text comes back to Earth to talk about Earth-orbiting satellites before asking "Where do we go from here?" ( )

I thought this was an overall good read. It's very informational but still understandable for children. it describes all sorts of facts about space and the Mars Rover. ( )

This collaboration between the two authors works wonderfully. Stephen Biesty's illustrations are always excellent, but in this book they and the text complement each other wonderfully. I've read so many books about space that use stock photos; these illustrations are exceptionally valuable within this genre because of their originality and fresh subject matter. ( )