SUPER SPACE WEEKEND

In this French import, three animal friends spend a weekend in a treehouse observatory, learning about the universe and what makes it tick.

With—initially at least—varying degrees of enthusiasm, Squeak, Orni, and Castor walk away from a city’s light pollution to see night skies thickly strewn with stars open up overhead. The trio then receive a schooling in basic astronomy (“the MOTHER OF ALL SCIENCES!” as astro-geek Squeak proclaims), from the lives of stars and planets to the electromagnetic spectrum and the Big Bang. The topics don’t appear to be organized in any logical order, and readers will likely be left puzzled by the author’s (or perhaps translator’s) unexplained reference to the asteroid belt’s “very peculiar location between Mars and Jupiter,” not to mention being misled by simplistic claims that solar flares are “not dangerous” (they can be) and that planets are by definition “alone in their orbit.” Still, by and large the facts are sound and presented in easily digestible bits interspersed with amusing banter. The three campers, portrayed Walt Kelly–style as anthropomorphic figures with the heads of rodent- or birdlike animals, share borderless panels with images of stellar and interstellar phenomena set against bright white or solid black backdrops. Young skywatchers can test their knowledge by filling in the names of select constellations on a set of sky maps at the end.

Not exactly seamless or systematic but lighthearted enough to draw a crowd.