Space Books for Kids and a Story Starring Your Child
Make a story like this with your child as the hero
Some children point at the moon every single evening, as if checking it's still there. If yours counts down from ten before jumping off the sofa, has turned a cardboard box into a rocket more than once and wants to know how far away the stars really are, this guide is for them, and for whoever answers the questions at bedtime.
Below are the space books for kids that families come back to again and again, a short space bedtime story to tell tonight, an easy six-step way to invent a space adventure of your own, and how to turn it into a printed picture book: a space story starring your child, with their name on the cover.
Space Books for Toddlers and Young Children
Space is the biggest stage a story can have, yet the best space books for children keep it cosy: a small traveller, a long way from home, and always a way back. These six cover a wide range of ages.
Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy: Baby Bear climbs into a cardboard box, puts a colander on his head and flies up the chimney to the moon, where he shares a picnic with an owl. A perfect first space story, and very easy to act out with a real box.
How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers: a boy loves the stars so much that he wants one of his own, and tries everything to reach it. Simple, gentle and quietly clever about wishing.
Toys in Space by Mini Grey: toys left out in the garden overnight are beamed up into an alien spaceship, where a sad alien is searching for its lost cuddly. Funny and kind, with a lovely twist.
Field Trip to the Moon by John Hare: a wordless picture book about a child who gets left behind on a school trip to the moon and makes friends with its shy inhabitants using a box of crayons. Wonderful for children who like to tell the story themselves.
There's No Place Like Space by Tish Rabe: the Cat in the Hat takes Sally and Dick on a rhyming tour of the planets. A good choice for the child who wants the facts as well as the fun.
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed: the true story of Mae Jemison, who dreamed as a little girl of going to space and grew up to become an astronaut. For slightly older listeners with big plans.
The ones children love most have the same bones: a small hero sets off from somewhere ordinary, meets someone unexpected among the stars, solves a little problem and comes home again. That's exactly the shape a story about your own child can take.
A Five-Minute Space Bedtime Story
Here is a story about the moon to tell with the curtains open, if it's out tonight. Put your child's name wherever you see Sam, and let your voice get softer as the rocket comes home.
One night, Sam looked out of the window and saw that something was wrong. The moon was there, round and bright, but one of its friends, the smallest star, had gone missing.
So Sam climbed into the big cardboard box in the corner, the one with the porthole drawn on in felt-tip. "Three, two, one," whispered Sam, and the box gave a shiver and floated up through the open window, past the chimney and the treetops and the sleeping birds.
Up among the stars it was very quiet. Sam looked behind a cloud: nothing. Sam looked beside the moon: nothing. Then Sam heard the tiniest sniffle, and there was the smallest star, caught on the tip of the moon's curve, too shy to call for help.
Sam lifted it off very gently and held it up to its place in the sky. It twinkled so hard that the moon smiled. Then the cardboard rocket drifted down, slowly, slowly, back through the window and onto the bedroom rug.
And in the morning, on the windowsill, there was a tiny speck of silver dust.
The second time round, your child will want to fly somewhere new. Let them choose the planet. That's how their own space story begins.
Make It Their Own: a Space Story Recipe
Six short answers are enough for a whole adventure. Say each one out loud with a little detail and it fills about five minutes.
The astronaut: your child's name, their age and the spaceship they would fly. A little red rocket, a silver saucer, the cardboard box from the hallway.
The launch pad: somewhere they know where a rocket could take off. The back garden, the top of the climbing frame, the end of the bed.
The crew: who flies with them, with one funny habit. A robot who beeps when it's happy, an alien who only eats crisps, the family dog in a helmet.
The problem in space: something small a child could fix. A bumpy place to land, a star that's lost its twinkle, an alien whose ship won't start.
The clever moment: what your child spots or does. They find the smooth landing spot, they press the right button, they share their snack.
Splashdown: home again, the way your evenings really end. A bath, a story, the moon in the window saying goodnight.
A Worked Example: Mia and the Little Red Rocket
Here are the six answers for a girl called Mia, who loves rockets.
The astronaut: Mia, in her yellow raincoat and wellies.
The launch pad: the bottom of her garden, where a little red rocket is waiting one summer evening.
The crew: Rivet, a small round silver robot in a teal flight suit, who needs a co-pilot.
The problem in space: the moon is covered in craters, and Rivet can't find a safe place to land.
The clever moment: Mia spots a smooth patch between the bumps. "There, Rivet!" They touch down as soft as a feather, then bounce across the moon and wave at the faraway Earth.
Splashdown: back in the garden, a pat for the rocket, then into bed while Rivet waves goodnight from the windowsill.
This is a real example from Photo9's story writer. We gave it Mia's name, her age, that she loves rockets and space, and one of the ready stories below: a little red rocket whose robot pilot needs a co-pilot. It wrote the fourteen pages and painted every picture. Mia isn't a real child: we drew her as a sample.
From Story to Book: a Personalised Space Book
A story told at bedtime floats away by morning. A printed one can be packed for a sleepover, read under the covers with a torch and kept long after the cardboard rocket has been squashed flat. Photo9 makes yours into a personalised space book with your child drawn as the hero from one photo.
Start with one photo. We draw your child as a storybook character first, free of charge, so you can see the likeness before deciding anything. The photo is used only to draw the book and is deleted afterwards; it is never shared or used to train AI.
Choose the mission. Tap one of the ready space stories below, or type your six answers in your own words.
Add their favourite rocket and the reader's age. Little ones get short lines with plenty of "whoosh"; older readers get longer sentences and more to discover.
Pick a look. 3D animation, watercolour or classic storybook, with the words beside each picture or one big painting across both pages.
Read it through before ordering. Change any word you like, and add a dedication of your own on the first page.
The book is a 30-page square hardcover with 14 illustrated scenes, printed in your region. Up to three crew members can come along, like a brother, a grandad or the cat, each drawn from their own photo.
Ready Space Stories to Start From
Prefer not to write anything? Begin with one of these. Each is written around your child, with their name, their age and what they love.
The little red rocket: a little red rocket at the bottom of the garden, and a robot pilot who needs a co-pilot.
The friendly alien: a small alien's spaceship lands in the park, and it needs help to get home.
A trip round the planets: red Mars, stripy Jupiter, Saturn's rings, and a surprise at every stop.
A Christmas trip to the stars: on Christmas Eve, a little rocket helps Santa's sleigh find its way.
A big space adventure: leave it to us, with a rocket ride to the stars and home again.
Each link opens the book maker with that story already picked. Nothing is printed until you order.
Space Gifts for Kids Who Love the Stars
Young space fans often have the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and the rocket pyjamas already. A book in which they fly to the moon themselves is the one thing that can't already be on their shelf, which makes it one of the more memorable space gifts for kids, for a birthday, Christmas or a brave first day at school. To get the most out of it:
Use a clear, cheerful photo. Facing the camera, in good light, without sunglasses or a hat over the eyes.
Put the whole crew on board. A twin, a cousin or the dog can share the adventure in the same book.
Write a message on the first page. A few lines from you, the grandparents or a godparent make it a keepsake.
Have it delivered to them. Enter their address at checkout and it lands at their door.
For more ideas, see our guide to personal photo book birthday gifts. And if their rocket drawings cover every wall, you can also make a photo book of your child's drawings.
Reading It Together
Nobody hurries through a book they star in. Let your child find themselves in every picture, do the countdown before each launch and say the last line of the page once they know it. Before long they'll be reading it aloud to their toys, rocket noises included.
Have other passions at home too? Our guides to dinosaur books and a story starring your child, digger and truck books, train books and unicorn books use the same recipe, and our Christmas story starring your child has ideas for December. All our personalised children's books begin with a single photo, for bedtime, birthdays, a new baby or the first day at school.
Questions Parents Ask
Can I choose where they fly?
Yes. The moon, Mars, a ringed planet, a star with their name on it: tell us, describe their rocket if you like, and it is painted that way on every page. Any word can still be changed before printing.
Will they wear a spacesuit?
Only if you'd like them to. Our sample keeps Mia in her yellow raincoat, as picture books often do, but you can write "in a white spacesuit with a round helmet" and the book is drawn that way.
How many photos do you need?
One clear photo is enough. We draw your child once from it and paint every picture from that drawing, so they look like themselves all the way to the moon and back.
Can a brother, sister or our pet come too?
Yes, up to three companions, each drawn from their own photo.
When does it arrive?
Most books arrive within a week, and checkout shows the delivery date before you pay. Making the drawing and the story takes only a few minutes.
