The Space Between by Jess McGeachin

Max and Milo live side by side in two houses which luckily are located out in the countryside because both boys love to look up at the stars and if you have ever done this you will know the view in a very dark country sky is so much better than trying to star gaze in the city with all our light pollution.

Max and Milo enjoy their daily routines and then one day they find an old, abandoned car and their imaginations soar! This is not a car it is a rocket and with a few easy repairs it can fly them up into space. As they work on their rocket Milo says something important but Max is not paying attention:

"We'll need navigation' explained Milo, and he drew a map of the solar system. 'Now we'll always know where we are, even if we're far apart. Even if one of us has to move away ... "

The boys complete their rocket and have a fabulous evening exploring space. Grandma is waiting for their return with a pate of sliced oranges. Everything seems so perfect but ... 

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. You can see art from The Space Between here. When you share this book make sure you spend time enjoying and laughing over the end papers!

This book "embodies all of the best parts of imaginative play". Kids' Book Review. Take a few minutes to read this detailed guest post by Jess McGeachin on Paperbark Words. He says:

It’s this capacity for imagination that I wanted to explore in the story, and the hope that there’s no problem too big to fix with some cardboard and sticky tape.

... this one has all the warmth of a cosy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate, with a lovely look at both imagination and enduring friendship. Just so Stories

This is a perfect book to open up conversations about moving house, friendship, imaginative play and the importance of our connections with one another even if we are separated. 

The CBCA judges said in their Notables report:  Strong characterisations are achieved with a light touch, and visual and textual elements combine to create a strong sense of place in the rural setting. The illustrations are beautiful, with a strong, warm colour palette that bring the story to life.

I was thrilled to see Jess McGeachin has two books on the 2025 CBCA Notables lists - this one The Space Between is on the Picture Book of the Year list and South with the Seabirds is on the Non Fiction Eve Pownall list.

The Little Prince adapted by Louise Greig illustrated by Sarah Massini

"At sunrise a strange little voice broke my sleep. Please draw me a sheep. I blinked. 

The voice belonged to a charming little prince."

This is a new Picture Book adaptation of the famous book Le Petit Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery and I think it manages to cover most of the plot.  If you want to introduce this story to younger children this picture book version is well worth finding especially if you and your young reading companion are happy just to read this as a fanciful tale and you have no need to seek deeper meanings. The illustrations in this picture book are also very appealing. 

On his journey to Earth, the Little Prince visits a series of planets. He meets a King, a show-off, a drinker, a businessman, a lamp-lighter, a geographer. Three of these are depicted in this new picture book version. I like the way the businessman who is obsessed with numbers is shown on a planet crowded with technology. Louise Greig leaves out the show-off, the drinker (this might please you), and the geographer. As in the original story he does meet the fox but not the snake. 

After reading this new picture book adaption of The Little Prince I went back to read the novella - I read a translation by Alan Wakeman illustrated by Michael Foreman. 

"This is my secret. It's very simple: we only really see with our hearts. 

What matters is invisible to the eyes."

There are a few very famous children's books which I find are somehow beyond my comprehension - The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley; A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle ; The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. 

If you think there must be more to this story Penguin UK list seven timeless life lessons from The Little Prince.

1.     Don’t be too fond of numbers

2.     Look after the planet

3.     Don’t judge others by their words, but by what they do

4.     Relationships make life worth living

5.     The important things in life you cannot see with your eyes, only with your heart

6.     It is the time you give to something that makes it precious

7.     And finally, remember to look up at the stars

If you are interested in how well The Little Prince has been translated take a look at this article which compares ten the work of ten translators. 

Here are some comments about the original story:

1001 Children's Books you must read before you grow up:  "The story, absurd though it is in structure, strikes a cord with readers young and old, even though its subject matter is not particularly childish."

101 Books to read Before you Grow up: "This is an honest and beautiful story about loneliness, friendship, sadness and love. ... but don't be fooled by its small size, it is an intelligent story meant to be thought about deeply and encourage you to build castles in the air."

Charlotte Huck Children's Literature in the Elementary School: "A popular fairy tale of our time for adults and children ... Some children will find the hidden meanings in a tale such as The Little Prince; others will simply read it has a good story; and still others will be put off reading it altogether because it isn't real. Children vary in their capacity for imaginative thinking."

The Little Prince was first published in 1943. It has been translated into 300 languages and sold millions of copies. The story has been adapted into other forms such as plays; television; and opera. There are also at two schools one in France: L'école Le Petit Prince; and one in Ontario: L'école élémentaire catholique Le Petit Prince. Before France adopted the Euro, drawings from The Little Prince were on their 50-franc banknote. 

Here are a few other spin off titles due for publication this year:

Even though I found The Little Prince a confusing story I am intrigued to read this new edition translated by Michael Morpurgo especially after the reading I have done for this post which has increased my understanding of the novella The Little Prince:

And this one looks quite special by Italian illustrator Manuela Adreani. It is not a picture book version as it has 80 pages. 

Sarah Massini is the illustrator of Star in the Jar. Louise Greig is the author of The Night Box. 

Cave Paintings by Jairo Buitrago illustrated by Rafael Yockteng translated by Elisa Amado

As this book begins we meet a young boy waiting at a space station somewhere in the universe. He is heading away for a holiday with his grandmother which means he needs to travel, as he has in the past, to the farthest planet. We are not told the name of his home planet but it is clear his grandmother lives on our planet Earth. It is also clear this story is set far into the future as we see other aliens embarking and then disembarking from the amazing space craft. The airline attendants are sure to amaze you.

The boy and his grandmother climb into a bubble shaped craft and they head off across different landscapes before arriving at a cave. This is what they see:

Lascaux is famous for its Palaeolithic cave paintings, found in a complex of caves in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, because of their exceptional quality, size, sophistication and antiquity. Estimated to be up to 20,000 years old, the paintings consist primarily of 

large animals, once native to the region.

At the end of his holiday his grandmother gives the boy a set of  pencils. Your young reading companion is sure to be puzzled or curious about why this boy is not familiar with a simple set of familiar objects but these are ancient artefacts which once belonged to his ancestors. On the way home he uses the pencils and a note book from his grandmother to draw the view out of his window and his memories of his recent holiday. He is using art to interpret his world just as the cave painters did in ancient times.

A work at once both limitless and grounded, the imaginative illustrations will be especially appealing to lovers of science fiction and fantasy. School Library Journal

An ode to the endless possibilities of art, a celebration of open borders, and a reverence for the contributions of our collective ancestors. Horn Book

Celebrated collaborators deliver another thoughtful delight, revealing how “making marks” links us across time and space. Kirkus

Here is the publisher blurb "Our hero travels all alone on a spaceship, through the universe, past galaxies, comets and planets to go visit his grandmother on Earth for the summer holidays. She takes him to visit an ancient cave, where he discovers handprints and drawings of unknown animals made by human beings, just like him. To top off his wonderful holiday she gives him mysterious objects which once belonged to his grandfather — paper and crayons. On the way home he draws what he saw on his travels — to the amazement of his fellow passengers. Jairo Buitrago’s thought-provoking story reminds us of what remains as everything changes. Rafael Yockteng’s fabulous art, a tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, presents us a wonderful, diverse future in which space travel is common, though knowledge of the past is still a secret treasure to be discovered."

The original title of this book is Pinturas rupestres. 

I loved all the quirky aliens in this book and the wonderful space travel vehicles. This book could be a good way to introduce Science Fiction to a young reader. 

I first discovered Rafael Yockteng through the IBBY Honour book display which was hosted here in NSW by Lost in Books. I was immediately drawn to his book Two White Rabbits. I cannot read Spanish but the illustrations told a powerful story. Later I discovered this book has been translated into English. 

When I was researching International Illustrators for an IBBY Australia presentation I sought out Rafael's work again and saw Cave Painting.  Luckily for me, boy oh boy I am so lucky, my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has purchased this for her school library and so I can now read this quirky and very intriguing book.

Book Week is now behind us. This year the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) selected the slogan Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. As often happens, after the event I always find things that fit the theme - either display materials in $2 shops or in this case the perfect book. Cave Painting beautifully encapsulates Old Worlds (cave paintings), New Worlds (Space travel) and Other Worlds (aliens and other planets).