Eight-year-old Maxine’s art project is an assignment to look at her home in a new way and to draw what she sees. So she travels to Kennedy Space Center in Florida where she rides on a space shuttle to draw her picture . . . and makes an amazing discovery.

Young readers will find Maxine’s journey entertaining as they learn some basic facts about space travel. There’s a great deal of space science information packed into Maxine’s story, making it perfect for readers interested in astronauts, space travel, and science. Colorful illustrations support the informative text.

Recommended. ( )

There was one main reason why I really liked this book. The book was very engaging because it was fictional and informative. The fictional parts of this book were very interesting. It was unique to make the main character an eight year old astronaut. That obviously would not happen but that will allow the children who read this book to connect. Another interesting fictional part was why the eight year old went on a space adventure. She did this all for an art assignment where she had to draw her home in a new way. She took the hard way and wanted to draw the Earth as her home from the view of outer space.
The informative parts of this book were very useful information for children. This book introduces a lot of facts about space and astronauts while it connected with the story. While children will read this book they might not even realize that they are learning about space. The author revealed facts about gravity in a subtle manner. He did this while he was describing the main character’s last Earthly privileges, like showering. He explained that astronauts cannot shower in space by saying, “Water spraying out of a shower would float all over the place and quickly fill the cabin with dancing beads of liquid.” He explained the importance of the pieces of gear astronauts wear by saying, “She put on long thermal underwear in case she got too cold. On top of her thermal underwear she put on her cooling underwear, in case she began to overheat.” A really interesting fact that the author incorporated in this book a couple of times was how fast the rocket was moving. She went from going 760 miles per hour to 11,000 miles per hour. Anyone would be amazed at that fact! Another important concept the author introduced was the weight difference on the moon. Maxine went from feeling as if she weighed two hundred pounds to feeling as if she weighed nothing at all. This explained that when people are on the moon they weigh less than they would if they were on Earth. Another really cool fact that was presented was that Maxine did not see any lines from where the countries are divided. This is obvious to an adult reader but a child might not know that fact. The author did a great job in introducing facts throughout the whole book. ( )

Floating home is a very imaginative depiction of Maxine’s artistic process of drawing her home in a new way, the assignment given to her be her teacher (likely 2nd grade, Maxine is 8 years old). The author uses some academic language that would be difficult for some students, however in the story the descriptions and language work well with the illustrations to convey clearly what the author is describing. As the author explains Maxine’s process of traveling to space to draw her home from a completely new perspective, he uses simplistic language mixed with academic to ensure it is accessible. I really enjoyed the creativity of the illustrations, depicting the whole artistic process as well as the stylized nature of the images themselves. The concept of the book was almost like a dream, however I believe it is intended to be the imagination of Maxine as she attempts to draw her home from a new perspective. I would read this story to my students and use it as a teachable moment to encourage children to look at things from multiple perspectives. ( )