The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris Hadfield

The Darkest Dark is a children's story book about a little boy who is afraid of the dark...I think it is also probably very true to the childhood experiences of its author, the astronaut, Chris Hadfield.

Little Chris has an active imagination - he dreams about being an astronaut, exploring far off planets and hunting for aliens. But young Chris is terrified of the dark and won't settle in his own room at night for fear of aliens and the deep dark depths of the night.  On the night that he and his family watch the televised moon landings of Apollo 11, Chris realises that in space there is a type of darkness much darker than he is used to in his own bedroom. And that is when he decides he wants to be an astronaut, not just dream about them.

This book held particular fascination for Lara because she was interested to know that Commander Chris Hadfield is a genuine US astronaut. Lara enjoyed reading the material at the back of the book about Chris Hadfield's space career and looking at the photos of him as a boy, a young man, and in space. It really brought life to the story to know it was based on a real person.

This is a great story for any budding young astronauts or for children who are struggling to cope with the dark themselves. I think the moon landings needed a little bit of an explanation to Lara and Holly who didn't really grasp the weight of such an occasion and how it might impact someone's life.

I'm not sure that the text of the story itself has grasped either of my girls' imaginations - they remember the story but not necessarily the way in which it was told.

Children's Book Review :: The Night the Stars Went Out

There once was a tiny alien, with a very big job...Alien was a star shiner.

Holly and Lara were both transported into magical sparkly space when I first read them this book; their eyes were wide open. Can you imagine having to shine all of the stars in the universe? Can you imagine if all of those stars suddenly stopped shining? Wow. The Night the Stars Went Out by Suz Hughes is the tale about the biggest problem that this tiny alien has ever had to solve. The girls couldn't believe it!

This delightful picture book follows poor little alien down to planet earth in search of special star shining varnish. Down on planet earth, the alien makes a new friend (star shining is a very lonely business normally) and discovers that there is more to life than shining stars. It really put a smile on my own face as we reached the end of the story and discovered that fun and friends, not special star shining varnish, were all that was needed to save the day!

This fun and friendly picture story book by Suz Hughes is published by Curious Fox and features bright, bold illustrations with lots of alien fun. We particularly loved the illustrations of the dark night sky with a rollercoaster path down to planet earth. Alien has very cool eyebrows and a very groovy moustache - it would be quite hard not to want to be friends with him!

I'd recommend The Night The Stars Went Out for children of about 2-7 years old - it makes a fabulous warming story just before bedtime.

Children's Book Review :: HippoPandaMouse

HippoPandaMouse is a cute picture book by Jools Bentley available now in paperback from Pan Macmillan.

This is Jools' debut book as an author although Jools was already acclaimed for her illustrations.  This picture story book is packed full of fun animated creatures of all shapes - the cute and cuddly creations of Fluffley's Fine Toys store, the toy shop of choice for royalty!

The story tells the tale of a visit from Princess Flo and all of the hard work and preparation that the staff at the toy store go through for her visit.  Princess Flo is looking for something a little out of the ordinary and, thanks to a bit of a hiccup in preparations, she finds exactly what she is looking for.  A HippoPandaMouse.  Perfect.

Holly and Lara (4 and 6) both enjoy this story - Lara really appreciates that something doesn't have to confirm to be desirable. I just wish she'd learn this lesson in her school life too. Holly likes looking through the different animals and cuddly toys on each page.