Space Oddity
By Christopher Edge
Published: 7th January 2021
Published by: Chicken House
£6.99
ISBN: 9781912626861
Pages: 234
Author contact details:
Twitter: @edgechristopher
Illustrator contact details:
Twitter: @BenMMantle
Publisher contact details:
Twitter: @chickenhsebooks
Jazz Bartlett Love: jasmine@chickenhousebooks.com
Twitter: @jazzbartlett
Under 100 character summary:
Young boy discovers David Bowie and aliens and nurtures a growing bond with his father.
The first line:
It looked like a shooting star at first – a silver streak of light, glowing bright against the darkness of the night.
My review:
I love reading books to my class, and this one is perfect for that. Not too many different voices are needed, the plot is easy to follow and there are some genuine laugh out loud moments for adults and children. I think this (laughing) does really help a child, especially one that is reluctant to engage with reading or books, to connect with a book. It includes themes of family, friendship, hobbies and belonging. Belonging at a small level and large (the universe!).
At the beginning of the story, a UFO crash lands on Earth. Fast forward twelve years and we discover the alien trying to make a life for himself on the planet Earth by completely becoming human. How long can he remain undetected by the space police? The main premise of the story, is that your average school boy and his dad struggle with their relationship, but he is fine with his mum, which is a little cliché perhaps, but useful to talk about with young children. In order to improve their relationship, Jake and his dad go on a camping trip and try out lots of bonding activities. Inevitably, a lot of these go wrong, but in the end Jake’s dad needs his son’s help and his son’s determination to help him, is what cements their relationship. Will Jake be able to help rescue his dad and survive against aliens from out of space?!
The reason this book was sent to me, was because I was hunting around for a good book to connect to the Year 5 topic of space, which my school does in the Autumn term. This book could be used for that; however, really it is more of a Year 4 text, so could be used in the first part of the Autumn term.
I’m still on a hunt for a book that could be used for this topic, as the other ones I have tried haven’t really worked – Phoenix by S F Said is a great book, but it is a little complicated and long for our classes. So, if you know one that would work, do please get in touch!
Where I received the book:
The UKLA 4-11 magazine.
Kinkajousreadtoo 
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