Avni imagines she's a lonely astronaut, looking for a sidekick to accompany her. Slowly she starts to recognise that what she's actually looking for, is a co-pilot. All told with charming art, showing how imagination overlays on reality.

This is the story of a girl Avni, who imagines to be an astronaut. She considered her home as space station and herself as the only astronaut in it. She enjoys being the only one as that allows her to land and take-off whenever she wanted. But soon she got bored of her acts and realised to create a mission, an important one, to hire an assistant for help. She needed a person to help her build her damaged space-ship. She hired Aya, a boy who make her realise that there are more things to enjoy and explore as well.

This is an amazing story of child's imagination, exploration and creativity out of it; and to let children learn about teamwork and stay humble with others.

This sweet picture book tells the story of Avni, a young and very imaginative child who has built a rocketship and wants to explore outer space. She looks all over for the perfect astronaut's assistant and is just about to give up when she is approached by another child willing to play. As soon as you are not alone with your imagination, there has to be a bit of give and take and so Aya, her assistant, doesn't always do exactly what she expects and Avni becomes a bit frustrated. As the story progresses she learns that it can be a lot of fun to let go of control and enjoy playing with others. I loved this book and think it would be perfect for an early years classroom library. I could see myself sharing this book with preschool-Grade 1 students who are doing play-based learning and may need to problem solve situations where playmates disagree. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

This book is about a child who wants to play astronaut but not everyone else does. When they finally find a good astronaut buddy, it turns out the buddy has their own version of play and the two don’t match. But together that you will learn that compromise is a great thing, and sometimes compromise is better than getting their own way.

My son loves all things space and we were so excited about this book, and it was so cute! A little girl with a very great imagination. I love how much she loved space, just like my own son does. The message is great too - about making new friends and how that it's okay to do things a different way sometimes. The pictures are sooooo cute! We have read this book several times and it will continue to be a household favorite I'm sure.

Thank you to the author, Kids Can Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun book about a little girl with a wonderful imagination, and a huge love for outer space. The illustrations are adorable, and the different ideas like the mission log etc. are wonderful. I did feel that the overall message could have used some sharpening, i.e. that making friends, and being in a friendship is give and take.

So my son is going through this rocketship fever period, and whenever there´s a rocketship in the story or any mention of a spaceship trip to the moon, he goes crazy. I thought then this book would be just perfect for him now, and I couldn´t have guessed better.

Avni is a girl who, like every child, uses her imagination to play. In her fantasy, the house she lives in is a space station, and she even built a really cool rocket, which also travels to outer space with herself as the only pilot. That's good because she doesn't have to wait her turn to go into orbit and she can have her rocket launched whenever she wants and feels like. In one of these solo pretending play, her ship suffers a small damage, and Avni begins to think that maybe having a helper by her side might be quite interesting. She then launches a mission of finding her an assistant.

In this search for the ideal assistant, Avni offers us the reflection that finding a good friend is not always easy, because each person has their own interests and preferences, but also shows us that friendship is an opportunity to make our interests grow and expand our perspectives of the world, in addition to finding a way of balance, where each one can be the leader of the game and, of course, be able to express their tastes, preferences and singularities in the most sincere way.

An invitation to diversity of thoughts and people.

I love it and recommend it!

You can check my review in my blog too. It's in Portuguese, but using the tools of translation, it will be really close to this text, with a few more details though.

What a fun and adventurous story with beautiful illustrations!

Avni loves exploring space and being the only astronaut on board her super cool looking spaceship because she can do whatever she wants. When her ship breaks down she knows she needs assistance but has trouble finding the right help (someone to play/explore space with). At first, Avni and her new assistant, Aya, clash, not really meshing well. Eventually, they are able to band together in order to save the ship and complete the mission.

I like Avni’s clear passion for space and her imagination. Her joy is infectious and makes you want to explore space too. I also admire the hard work and careful consideration she puts into planning out her missions.

I absolutely loved the artwork in this story! I loved how on some pages the illustrator drew imagination on top of reality, which was a creative way to further captivate the reader and accentuate the playful tone of the story.

I enjoyed this visually pleasing story and its invaluable lessons on how to make and carry out a plan, teamwork, playing well with others, and finding common ground.

Thanks again Kids Can Press and NetGalley for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my gosh this is so cute. I read this together with my nephew of 6yo. He loved it! He and his mom are on their way to the grocery store for empty boxes and tomorrow we will build a rockets hip that will also be a car and also be a submarine and also a racing car. He said: the book is right it's better with a friend then alone.

We absolutely loved this book! My 5yo is space obsessed, and if I'm being honest, struggles to play well with others/make friends (pandemic kid). We adored Anvi. Andrea Stegmaier's illustrations conveying blue for Anvi, then orange to represent Aya's imaginative adventures was brilliant. We found ourselves cheering for Anvi hoping she would find a friend and then applauding her perseverance, cooperation and adaptability. Mahak Jain perfectly depicts a child making room for themselves and still allowing space for others. My 5yo suggested asking his little brother to adventure with him later -- a win for me too! Must read!!

Quite an adorable book! I heard good things about this books and decided to check it out for myself. I read it with my kids and I have to say it is KID APPROVED! The tale is lighthearted and humorous yet the pictures are my favorite part. They are so detailed and colorful!

Avni is the main character and she is in a mission to find a friend with an imagination that matches her own so they can explore outer space and the deep sea. Does she succeed?

This was an adorable story about a child learning the importance of teamwork and cooperation. I loved the artwork and the story line was cute and engaging.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

What an imaginative and fun book! Great illustrations, great story, and a blast (no pun intended) to read! Loved the message about never giving up and problem-solving! So many great qualities to this story, it literally has it all! What a ride this book was about friendship and exploring! This is one of my new favorite kid books, I absolutely loved it, and my kids did too! Ages 6,4,2.

A cute story about space exploration and teamwork, but I feel it lacked slightly in depth and was a little bland. I still enjoyed it though, the illustrations are adorable.

Thank you to Kids Can Press and Netgalley for providing the ARC.

Beautifully illustrated and relatable read

This story is so darling! Avni is crafting a spaceship and enjoys working solo, but realizes that she might be more successful as part of a team. The process of sorting through her emotions as she navigates the challenges of finding and keeping a teammate is so important for kiddos to see and normalize. This one is great for space-loving kids, as well as those who like building/inventing or even just budding adventurers.

The Only Astronaut by Mahak Jain, Andrea Stegmaier - 4/5

This is a great story that shows having a partner does not have to hinder your love for a subject or all the hard work you have poured into it. Avia, a solo Astronaut loves being in charge on her missions but soon learns that having a partner is not necessarily a bad thing and set out to find someone. We all loved this story and the illustrations. It opened the floor to how having a partner/assistant can be beneficial and that no one should have to shoulder the burden of doing all the work.


The Only Astronaut is a great story for children and will be published in June 2023.

I received an ARC of this children's books from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful book. The text is fantastic and the pictures are adorable!

What a fun book! About a girl who is obsessed with space and looking for a suitable friend to travel in space together. It is not easy, because she wants a friend who can be an assistant for her. The illustrations are cute, colorful and fun. Some of the pictures containing Avni's targets written in crayons make this book even more distinctive. I really like how the illustrator depicts Avni's rocket, it really shows Avni's imagination.
This book will teach lessons about friendship to children. Learning to understand other people, not just wanting to be understood by others, and making friends with various differences is something fun.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for accepting me to read and review this book:)

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This was a fun little book about a space obsessed girl searching for a friend who is equally as space obsessed as she is. She has a mission log that includes important tasks like making Pluto a planet again (I wholeheartedly approve of that mission, because how dare they demote our boy Pluto like that). She searches everywhere for a suitable assistant, but then one finds her, except she thinks that the ship is a submarine. There is some confusion and disagreements, but then they figure out they can take turns exploring space and the sea and work together to do all their goals.

The illustrations were colorful and fun, showing the reality with the imagination superimposed over it for most of the pages, almost like photos that were taken, and then adjusted by a kid with a crayon to show what they saw when the event was happening. It was an interesting approach and I'm not mad at it.

I'm not sure I'd want to read this book too terribly many times, but I definitely wouldn't mind a few rereads because the lesson of taking turns is a good one. Overall I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Avni plays astronaut, and wants an assistant. She goes through some options until she finds Aya. Can they work together to explore?

This is a cute picture book that helps remind kids to work together to achieve lofty goals. The artwork is lovely, and I loved how it showed the kids' imaginary play while still showing what they were actually playing with. My 4 year old aspiring astronaut loved it too and was smiling all the way through.