The Darkest Dark
Today marks the last day of Space Week 2023 (October 4-10). (More about that can be read here.)
In my opinion, this book would be one of the best books to end Space Week. This is the real story of astronaut Chris Hadfield and his childhood fear of darkness.
Title: The Darkest Dark
Author: Chris Hadfield (A Real Astronaut)
Illustration: The FAN Brothers
Publisher: Little Brown (Hachette Book Group)
Chris Hadfield was a Canadian Astronaut and Spaceship Commander. He was also an author, TV host, public speaker, musician, and professor. You can read more about him here. There are many more good books from this publisher which you can check out on their website here. The illustrations in this book are too good to not be mentioned and highlighted. You can read more about the works of these illustrators here.
When he was little, he loved rockets, planets, and everything in space. But, there was one fear in his heart, he was scared of darkness. He was reluctant to go to sleep in his own big boy bed as he was scared of being all alone in the darkness and he thought monsters and aliens would attack him at night. Even though he played flying a rocket with his dog, he was unaware that space was the darkest dark. Until, he saw a live moon landing on TV, when he realized that space was dark but beautiful. He understood that in order to fulfill his dream of becoming an astronaut, he would have to conquer his greatest fear.
This story is a great inspiration for budding space explorers and little kids who are scared of the dark. This would be a very good read-aloud for toddlers and lower-elementary kids. In my opinion, anyone with an interest in space exploration and astronomy would love this book and its mind-blowing illustrations.