Goodnight Spaceman

Goodnight Spaceman is a charming book about two little boys who imagine whizzing into space to visit their dad on the International Space Station (ISS). The rhyming text sets a gentle pace for the story, which is further explored in the detailed illustrations. This book would be brilliant for any child interested in space and who has been following the popular Tim Peake! It's a great read for 3-7 year olds. When I shared with with a reception class, they quickly noticed the rhyming text and enjoyed trying to guess the rhyme at the end of the sentence before I read it. We came to this book at the end of our topic on space, so the drawings were particularly great as they mirrored real life. There was much discussion on the names of the planets illustrated earlier in the book which were then clearly labelled further on. It is quite a tricky thing to do, crossing a fiction and non-fiction book, and this story manged it. As well as an enjoyable story in its own right, you could also use Goodnight Spaceman to begin discussions about missing family when they have to go away. Older children could write a letter to their dad in space, asking him about it and telling him what they are doing at home, or create a story map of the boys' adventures. Of course there's lots to explore around the topic of space, too, including what it's like to live in space and investigating the planets - which could also be useful in Maths as you explore how far away the planets are and how long it takes them to orbit the sun. The children in my reception class definately gave the book a thumbs up, and were convinced it was actually Tim Peake himself in the story "because the daddy has orange hair"! Picture book / Ages 3-7 years / Reviewed by Lynnette Voisey, EY teacher.

Suggested Reading Age 3+