BEAM ME UP

In Ferguson’s picture book, a boy dreams of traveling to another world, but his mother thinks that Earth is an amazing place to be.

After being tucked into bed, the young protagonist looks out his window, hoping to spot a flying saucer that could take him to a faraway planet—one where everyone can fly. When his mom catches him packing a bag to prepare for the trip, she explains that “anywhere but here” could end up being “gross and yucky.” The story ends with the mom sharing why she loves her home planet. Hemans’ full-color, sleek illustrations of the boy’s imagined adventures—in which he flies in a spaceship, plays sports with robots and dinosaurs, and cooks up treats for aliens—will delight the imaginations of children and adults. The boy’s mother wears a t-shirt featuring the Panamanian flag, paired with a scarf in the flag’s colors on her head. (She and the youngster are portrayed as Black.) It’s refreshing to see a mom depicted as wearing comfortable clothes near bedtime, as many parents do. Most lines rhyme and some words are in all caps, serving as good intonation cues when reading aloud. Words describing colors are printed in the hue they represent, which may assist beginning readers.

A captivating story about wishing to be elsewhere and loving where one is.