Jasper: Space Dog (The Misadventures of Jasper)

This is such a brilliant and informative book.  It all those important questions that children ask about space in one place.Through his humorous letters to Isabella at Space exploration UK, Charlie discovers all that Jasper needs to learn to be a space dog.  This is a great book to share with your child and in my case, in the classroom too.  It incorporates letter writing with a real purpose, dispels some simple myths about the moon and gives real facts about the first moon landing.  It is written in a charming but informative way that younger children will enjoy, learn from and fully engage with and older children will have fun reading by themselves.  Some of Charlie's ideas and thoughts are great stimuli for discussions and experiments, such as looking into space food etc. and children will love exploring these ideas.The book is illustrated with cute space related doodles across the pages as well as cartoon-like drawings of the characters and the story adding the charm of this book.  Such a clever way of mixing fact with fiction.   HIghly recommended for sharing with younger children and for older, primary children to read alone.

Jasper Space Dog has a colourful and engaging cover, is illustrated throughout with delightful black and white drawings, and most wonderfully has been printed on off-white paper using the Open Dyslexic font. I am passionate about finding books which make reading pleasurable for dyslexic readers and firmly believe that what is good for dyslexics is good for all readers. Some young dyslexic readers have told me that they found the spacing between lines to be really helpful in allowing them to read this book easily.It is cleverly structured as a series of letters written between eight-and-a-half year old Charlie Tanner, on behalf of his dog Jasper, to a rocket scientist Dr Isabella Starr (girl power ✓). Jasper would like to become a space dog! He already has his moon boots and enjoys strutting around the local park in them, but he requires Charlie to ask a rib-tickling range of questions on his behalf before he ventures to the moon. This is such an engaging device as Jasper’s questions definitely reflect the hugely imaginative ideas that spring from the minds of young children. As I read the increasingly funny questions with a big smile I was delighted that the eminent scientist’s replies to Charlie acknowledged the humour in the enquiries, especially the suggestion to explore explosive chocolate as rocket fuel.So much care has been taken in the compilation of this book, right down to the final chapters summarising the information discovered so far and then expanding on factual information about moon expeditions. Books which entertain and educate seamlessly are to be greatly valued and I highly recommend this to all schools and to any family looking for a book to engage a reluctant reader and help them discover the joy of books.

Jasper, Charlie Tanner’s dog, has ambitions!What a brilliant children’s book. Never mind children, it took me right back to the moon landings when I was the same age as 8 year old Charlie Tanner and I think adults of around my age would love this story just as much as the children at whom it is aimed. So many memories were rekindled by reading Jasper: Space Dog that I now feel incredibly nostalgic.Jasper: Space Dog is perfectly plotted for independent or shared reading. There’s a clear font with an excellent balance of text to illustration and the email structure gives natural and frequent breaks to those children who struggle with reading. The illustrations deserve praise in their own right because, whilst they are professional and fitting for the text, they have a level of naivety that is perfect for the age range aimed at.I loved the humour in Jasper: Space Dog and think children will too. However, the best part of the book for me was the manner in which facts, science and history are interwoven so that children are learning without realising because they are simply enjoying a smashing story. This is such skilful writing for children and I can see the book shared at home or at school very successfully.It’s obvious that a considerable amount of time and effort has gone in to creating an accessible, entertaining and educational story in Jasper: Space Dog that is wonderful for children of all ages! I really recommend it.

What a great book! I was so impressed with 'dyslexic friendly' features this book has, and it was much appreciated by one of my students. He can often find non-fiction easier to read than fiction, so this was a perfect book as it includes both. He was able to recap brilliantly about the book, something he really struggles with a 'larger' fiction book. He was excited to turn each page with comments such as , "Oh, what did they do next?!" when reading certain facts in the book. He was also very worried when he thought the moon was made out of cheese, "Why isn't it moudly then?!"The text used and the off white paper helped greatly with fluency and I have started to use this font in my powerpoints. My student often gets a little down that children are reading 'bigger books' than him that he cannot access, but he was definitely proud to hold this book. It has the perfect balance between pictures and writing to keep him engaged.Thank you Hilary for writing a comment to him in the front of the book, he said he will be very proud to have it on his bookcase :)

A fabulous story based on the historical event of the 1st moon landing .The story cleverly includes so many facts in response to Charlie’s letters and questions ,it makes learning interesting and enjoyable for everyone whatever age .Charlie and Jasper come to life in the book and manage to make both history and reading so much fun .I loved the pictures especially Jasper ,he’s set to become a legend .