In the 1960s it was Space: The Final Frontier.. We have come a long way since those words first graced our eyes and ears. We put a man on the moon, we put space crafts on Mars and we put several women there, too. Women who would make history in ways other than being “the first” or almost first. Sally Ride was the first American woman, third in space. Kalpana Chawla would be the woman to represent that no matter where you come from, or what obstacles were in your way, a just barely 62 inches woman could see the world and wave to it.
Sally Ride’s life unfolds in the January 2024 picture book of the same name, Sally Ride of the Little People, Big Dreams. Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara gives us the highlight of Ride as she is a young girl told to think big and dream. We see how she would be one of only a small handful of astronauts (not to mention an even small group of women) to be chosen for NASA’s programs. We see how she would create things that would stop accidents like the Challenger from happening again, and much more. Part of which is covered with a time life in the afterwards. And Alona Millgram gives us the signature style of the Little People, Big Dreams series. Therefore they are not overly busy, but have what is needed to support the story. 
And I mentioned Kalpana Chawla, a woman from India who, as a young girl, would wave to the airplanes that flew over her home. When she went to school she would excel in the classes needed to go into the higher sciences, but of course professors and others discouraged her. Yet, she would graduate as the only woman to have a degree in the subject. And as she grew, she eventually found herself in the states, where she met a pilot, fell in love, married, became a US citizen and would attempt to get into NASA several times. At just the 62 inches needed to qualify, Chawla’s short life unfolds in the picture book Journey to the Stars: Kalpana Chawla, Astronaut with the words and illustrations of Laurie Wallmark, Raakhee Mirchandani and Maitreyi Ghosh. Like Ride, Chawla wanted to fly, help and become a great scientist. And the sweet, soft, colorful and mediumly detailed art shows this well. Due mid-February 2024 the sky will only be the limit for you to get this book, unless you have access to an online reader copy like I did.
