Is the science accurate?

Broadly, at the level of a picture book — orbits, gravity, vacuum and distance behave as they should. The aliens are, of course, invented.

What age are space stories best for?

They land well from about five upward. Younger children tend to enjoy the pictures and the rocket; older ones start asking the questions the story is designed to prompt.

Space & Sci-Fi Stories

Space stories do something quietly useful: they hand a child a setting where being curious is the heroic trait. These put your child’s character on the crew, and they lean on real things — orbits, gravity, distance, the fact that space is quiet — often enough that the science sticks a little.

What makes a good space & sci-fi story

Curiosity is the superpower

Problems get solved by noticing and testing rather than by being strongest.

Real science, lightly worn

Gravity, orbits and vacuum behave themselves, so what a child picks up is not something to unlearn later.

Aliens worth meeting

First contact is usually a communication puzzle, not a fight.

Big pictures

Space suits the cinematic art styles, and these are the stories that most often become short films.

Story ideas to start from

The junior engineer who is the only one small enough to reach the broken relay
A planet where the day is four hours long and nobody has ever finished a sentence
The message from an old probe that turns out to be a request for help
A moon base where the gravity keeps changing on Tuesdays
The child who packed the wrong bag for a mission to a very cold place

Common questions

Is the science accurate?: Broadly, at the level of a picture book — orbits, gravity, vacuum and distance behave as they should. The aliens are, of course, invented.
What age are space stories best for?: They land well from about five upward. Younger children tend to enjoy the pictures and the rocket; older ones start asking the questions the story is designed to prompt.