I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Funny and unique. With great pictures and a flowing story line, kids will enjoy this book.

Astro Pea is so much fun! Who said you shouldn't play with your food?! This book might just get even the fussiest of eaters curious about trying their veggies.

My little girl LOVED this read, a really fun story that kept her engaged until the end! We actually read this a few times as she really enjoyed the story - and I did too!

A fun and imaginative children's book about getting to know vegetables. I would definitely recommend this book and the chalkboard illustrations are absolutely adorable.

Pea takes a space-related trip around the garden. Some of the play on shapes and vegetables is a little clever and will make children look at vegetable shapes in a new way. It's a pretty slight book, and some of the associations are a stretch. Large collections will have a place for this volume.

The Story:
A little pea named Pete pops out of his pod and goes off to explore the galaxy on a carrot. Travelling through space he meets all kinds of wonderful veggie-planets and cauliflower stars. Everything is going fine until he collides with a satellite! Can “Corn-trol shuttle” help and will he ever find his way back home?

Favourite Spread:
I can’t think of many board books where every page has a completely black background and it is so effective in this book. The illustrations have a chalkboard feeling that gives the space-based story a unique feel.

My favourite spread was definitely Pete using his mushroom-parachute. Amalia has incorporated so many vegetables without it feeling contrived – every vegetable has a believable purpose.

The Verdict:
I loved the quirky chalk-board-style illustrations. It’s marketed as a book to encourage children to enjoy eating their vegetables and I think it certainly is a nice tie-in for babies who are weaning and toddlers learning the names of vegetables. Overall, this book is such fun I’m sure children, veggie-lovers or not, will love this book!

I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting combination of veggies and space travel, but it totally worked! Pete’s journey was made even better by the realistic illustrations, and I loved the black background that added to the simplicity of the story. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

Astro Pea is a picturebook by Amalia Hoffman that is currently scheduled for release on March 29 2019. Imagine what would happen if fresh veggies could go on a cosmic adventure! Well, blast off with Pete the pea and find out what he discovers outside his pod. Pete joins other curiously shaped vegetables such as an eggplant, artichoke, cauliflower, ear of corn, and mushroom as they each take a starring role in this creative tale of space exploration, daring, and friendship. Who knew healthy food could be so much fun?

Astro Pea is a cute and creative story. A young pea goes on a vegetable laden journey through the stars, and I like that while he enjoys the trip still wants his home and family in the end. I think this is something people of all ages can relate to. No matter how cool the journey, we always want to find our way back to those that love us, and that we love. I think the use of veggies as the characters, ships, and so on was very well done. It was obvious o me what all the produce was, but young readers that are not too fond of eating their veggies might need one or two named for them. I loved the illustrations, chalk work on a black background. I think this color scheme will be helpful when reading in the dim light that goes hand in hand with bedtime stories.

I received an electronic ARC from Schiffer Publishing Ltd through NetGalley.
Clever use of vegetables to represent space travel pieces. Pete the Pea finds a spaceship and launches into out space. Disaster strikes and he's rescued by a Corn-trol Shuttle orbiting nearby. They give him a different rocket so he can go home.
Love the black background to represent space as the various "planets" and "stars" appear as he travels on his journey.
Realistic looking vegetables that also look like stars, planets, space shuttles, rockets, etc.
Young readers will enjoy Hoffman's humor as they read about Pete.

There are books about space and books about vegetables, but it’s not often that these two topics are combined, and I doubt it’s ever been done in such a delightful and humourous way as in Astro Pea!

After popping from his pod, a little pea named Pete journeys through space, encountering all manner of heavenly bodies that are depicted as fresh vegetables. He rides (and crashes) a carrot spaceship, uses an asparagus spear as a telescope and a mushroom as a parachute, encountering along the way cauliflowers and artichokes, sweet corn, spring onion and more.

The story itself is very simplistic, but this only adds to its charm. The greatest appeal for me was the quirky, whimsical illustrations, which beautifully contrast chalky colours against a pitch-black background, giving the effect of drawings on a blackboard.

If you have a child who is reluctant to eat vegetables, Astro Pea could provide the perfect solution – especially if they enjoy reading about outer space!

This is a fun, quirky board book that will appeal to children and adults alike.

You can get hold of a copy by clicking one of the links below!

A quirky picture book with bright illustrations depicting vegetables in space. An additional purchase.

This is a fun one. I enjoyed the chalk drawings and this could be a good intro to different kinds of vegetables for kids - maybe helpful for making eating vegetables a bit more 'fun.' at least in concept.

This is a short, sweet adventure with vegetables in space, The simple drawings should appeal to very young readers.and I think preschoolers will enjoy the silliness.
Thanks to netgalley for an advance copy.

I received a digital arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was such an adorable book! Some of the jokes might be a little above little ones' heads (I'm looking at you, "corn-trol shuttle") but it's definitely perfect for working with toddlers to identify veggies and guess what happens next.

Astro Pea is such a sweet book and demonstrates the power of perception. What one person sees isn't always what another person sees. I can see using this book in so many different ways. The chalk illustrations are awesome and I can see this book inspiring many budding artists and thinkers. I love it!

This was a lovely little book to spark the imagination of children and make them think about vegetables as fun. Astro Pea meets little friends such as corn and uses vegetables like aubergines and mushrooms for space transport.

I would recommend this book to children aged 2-5 and their adults. I would use it in the classroom to increase an awareness of different vegetable names but also to inspire a bit of fun and creativity.

I will be posting a more detailed review on my blog on 14th March but can move it earlier if desired.

Cute story for bedtime or independent reading for an older child. J loved the illustrations and think little children would enjoy them too.

Pete the Pea pops out of his pod, finds a carrot rocket ship and blasts off into space! When his ship collides with a satellite, he's rescued by a shuttle full of corn kernels, who also provide him with a ride back home to Earth. This adorable picture book stars a cast of vegetables posing as heavenly bodies. Pete zooms by cauliflower star clusters, asparagus satellites, corn shuttles, and mushroom parachutes. It's a fun story about space and exploring, and a sweet story about making new friends.

The artwork is bright, with primary colors leaping off the jet black background of outer space. The anthropomorphic veggies have smiley little faces, and the simple artwork and text makes for an attention-grabbing storytime selection. Display, booktalk, and read Astro Pea with your healthy eating books, like Eating the Rainbow by Rena D. Grossman and Lois Ehlert's classics, Growing Vegetable Soup or Eating the Alphabet.

The artwork also lends itself to an interactive storytime and craft. The artwork can be recreated with colorful chalk and black construction paper, letting the kids create their own outer space adventures. Make some felt veggies and let the kids identify each of them as they come up throughout the story. There so many ways to enjoy this adorable book - there's even a free coloring page available through author Amalia Hoffman's website. Astro Pea is a cute add to your picture book and storytime collections.

Little ones will enjoy pointing out the foods they recognize. Has great potential for being integrated into a space-themed storytime.

This is a bizarre book about a pea who pops out of his pea pod and finds a spaceship that's really a carrot and flies around "space" also known as the vegetable drawer.