The Sky Is Not the Limit

June 19, 2023
A Voyager spacecraft narrates its journey through the universe in this spare volume. Opening lines establish an exploratory tone (“What is up there?”), after which Voyager describes launching past clouds and daylight up into the “night.// Deep./ Infinite.” As the satellite-like probe travels in space, flat black pages sprinkled with pinprick stars movingly gesture toward the lonely expedition. Punctuating the intergalactic spreads are dramatic planetary flybys, until concluding twilight scenes back on Earth entreat the reader to “think of me, out there.” Staccato text includes mention of how the vessel carries a golden record with a message from Earth: “For an encounter, perhaps,/ at the edge of night.” It’s a resonant portrait of space’s ineffable immensity. Ages 5–9.

Starred review from March 1, 2023
This lyrical picture book is a paean to the vastness of space and the human drive to explore. The Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched in 1977 and still traveling through the stars, narrates its own journey: "I rise up. I am above the clouds. I cross through the daylight." The book starts on Earth -- "Since the dawn of time, we have raised our heads and wondered" -- and then focuses on the journey as Voyager 2 passes one planet after another. Most pages contain just a few words or phrases, with the emphasis on Decalf's stunning digital illustrations. Broad expanses of black punctuated by countless stars give a sense of the enormousness of space. Color is used sparingly, with most of the images in shades of black, gray, silver, and white. The final spread asks readers to look into the vast night sky and think of Voyager 2, still "out there." The endnote describes NASA's plans for Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Maeve Visser Knoth

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2023
This lyrical picture book is a paean to the vastness of space and the human drive to explore. The Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched in 1977 and still traveling through the stars, narrates its own journey: "I rise up. I am above the clouds. I cross through the daylight." The book starts on Earth -- "Since the dawn of time, we have raised our heads and wondered" -- and then focuses on the journey as Voyager 2 passes one planet after another. Most pages contain just a few words or phrases, with the emphasis on Decalf's stunning digital illustrations. Broad expanses of black punctuated by countless stars give a sense of the enormousness of space. Color is used sparingly, with most of the images in shades of black, gray, silver, and white. The final spread asks readers to look into the vast night sky and think of Voyager 2, still "out there." The endnote describes NASA's plans for Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

December 1, 2022
A poetic envoy from the Voyager 2 probe as it leaves our solar system for the vast deeps of interstellar space. "Behind me, Earth. // Ahead of me lies the night." In lines so terse that twin probe Voyager 1 goes unmentioned until his (somewhat) more expansive afterword, Decalf recalls his personified spacecraft's assembly, launch, and flybys of all four outer planets on the way to the stars--bearing a golden disk of "images from Earth, and some melodies" in hopes of "an encounter, perhaps, / at the edge of night. // With some new friends?" Early scenes of silhouetted human watchers and workers quickly give way to starry backdrops in which, except for planets flashing by, the small knot of instruments and antennas floats, recedes, and at last appears as a shadow against a swirling nebula. Though sandwiched between schematic views of the solar system and of Voyager's course, this work--translated from French by the author--has little to offer readers curious about the actual mission or its achievements, not to mention the contents of that recorded message, until the quick summary at the end. But some sense of outer space's immensity and loneliness does come through. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Slight but evocative. (Informational picture book. 6-8)

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Starred review from March 1, 2023

K-Gr 2-This inspiring work of creative nonfiction follows the trajectory of the Voyager 2 probe, launched into deep space by NASA in 1977. The turn of each page propels readers farther along on the majestic journey, from construction at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to launch at Cape Canaveral and onward through the solar system. The spare, poetic text tells the story from the perspective of the spacecraft itself, using a serene first-person narration to convey the profundity of the endeavor. The richly hued digital illustrations are breathtaking. Decalf renders the human figures as stylized silhouettes, deliberately shifting emphasis to the images of nature and technology. The lovingly faithful depiction of Voyager 2 is paired with gorgeous, detailed vistas of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and finally a shining, spiral-armed galaxy far beyond our own. At every turn, the book deftly balances the wonders of scientific advancement with the thrill of the human spirit. VERDICT A visually stunning achievement and an important addition to nonfiction collections, this is an opportunity for young readers to experience a vital chapter in the history of humanity.-Jonah Dragan

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