Published by Caterpillar Books, an imprint of Little Tiger, 2019.

The Big Beyond looks at the history of space travel from Galileo to the International Space Station via early attempts at flight, the Space Race and the Apollo moon landing. It also looks to the future. It’s fascinating and really helpful for young children to see this chronology. Very often they learn about events in isolation. With this book, children can appreciate the moon landing in its wider context.

I love how the book is full of awe and wonder about space and flight. It reminds us of our long-standing fascination with the skies and what lies beyond planet Earth. From early man’s curiosity about the stars to more recent satellites, probes and space missions, we’ve always sought to explain and discover more about the universe.

The book is wide-ranging and informative. It’s perfect for Key Stage 1. There’s enough information to interest and inspire without overwhelming a young reader. There’s also a page at the back which provides additional detail about the book’s content, such as names and dates, facts and figures.

The book is written in rhyming verse and it’s fun to read aloud.

The text is nicely spaced, with key words in larger font. The pages are not crowded with text and there’s a great balance of text and image. The book is fully illustrated in full-colour. Aaron’s style is child-friendly while maintaining factual accuracy. I liked his use of captions too.

The Big Beyond is a terrific non-fiction title for younger readers.

Rating: 💙💙💙💙

Suitable for children aged 4+

Thank you to Little Tiger for sending me this book to review.