Alfie loves space; his favourite things are aliens, rockets and the moon. When his new baby sister arrives he decides she must be an alien and should be taken back into space as soon as possible! This beautifully illustrated space adventure explores the theme of a new baby in the family in an imaginative way.
Share the story
Read aloud Read the story aloud showing the illustrations as you do and stopping if your child wants to talk about a particular page.
Join in As you re read the book children might like to join in with the ‘blah blah’ and countdown pages and the repetitive phrases such as ‘She looked like an alien…’
Talk about the book Talk about the first double page spread with all the space themed things in Alfie’s bedroom. How many can children spot?
Encourage children to think about the story and what it is about by asking questions such as why Alfie thought Ruby was like an alien and what they think made him decide to keep Ruby at the end of the story?
Things to make and do
Go to the moon! Create a rocket out of draped blankets or large sheets of cardboard. Children could gather together toys and provisions to have a snack as they go on an imaginary journey into space.
Make a space model Make little aliens out of plasticine or make playdough together. You could make a moon surface base with craters out of tissue, aluminium foil or papier-mache to put the aliens on. A junk model rocket could be the finishing touch!
Draw a picture Children could draw an astronaut like Alfie in space or a space themed picture of their own.
Write a postcard Give children a postcard shaped piece of paper or card and suggest they write a postcard from the moon for Mum or Dad as if they are Alfie or Ruby. If you prefer you can download a postcard template.
Sing a space song eg ‘Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon!’
Find out more
Read more books by Rachel Bright here (watch the trailers on her website).
Meet our wonderful lovemybooks patrons Michael Rosen, SF Said, David Almond, Mini Grey, Julian Grenier, Myra Barrs, Jessica Souhami, Marilyn Brocklehurst, Chris Riddell, Chitra Soundar, Joseph Coelho, Imogen Russell Williams, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Sonia Thompson
With lovemybooks you will find out about wonderful books to read with your child. You will find many creative activities based on each book to make reading even more enjoyable and interactive.
Rachel Bright
talk about a particular page.
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