Astro - by Manuel Marsol (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A 2025 ALA NOTABLE BOOK

A 2025 KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A 2026 BANK STREET COLLEGE OF EDUCATION BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK

A 2026 USBBY OUSTANDING INTERNATIONAL BOOK

A 2025 FOREWORD INDIES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST

An astronaut grapples with the absence of his otherworldly friend in this poignant tale of loss and acceptance from an award-winning Spanish illustrator.

When Astro arrives on a faraway planet, everyone wants to meet him. Who's this strange person, and why is he here? But one kind creature in particular is especially drawn to him.

Together, they form an unlikely bond and navigate the world's curious terrains--mountains, caves, oceans. When the creature is taken from him, Astro must confront the difficult questions that underlie our existence: Why are we here? What is our life for?

Using a mix of collage, pencil and ink, and thickly layered acrylic, award-winning Manuel Marsol's illustrations teem with the vastness and wonder of life near and far.

"I guarantee that nothing else for sale in America right now quite looks or feels like this book."--Betsy Bird, School Library Journal

Review Quotes

"I guarantee that nothing else for sale in America right now quite looks or feels like this book."--Betsy Bird, School Library Journal

"[Astro] mixes meditations on mortality with an outer-space setting... The results are not merely otherworldly--they will also challenge children's very perceptions of what it means to be alive. An achingly beautiful testament to life, love, and death among the stars."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Delightfully surreal...A pensive epic that grapples with the meaning of existence."--Publishers Weekly

"In this poignant picture book about an unlikely friendship that outlives even death, eclectic illustrations follow an astronaut's arrival to an alien world with strange creatures and colorful, swirling landscapes."--Foreword Reviews

About the Author

Manuel Marsol (Madrid, 1984) is an illustrator & children's book author. In 2017, he received the International Illustration Prize at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. The winning illustrations form part of the picture book Yōkai (Fulgencio Pimentel 2017), which was co-authored with Carmen Chica.