Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid I loved space, and devoured science fiction (Doctor Who was my favorite). Now I’m a grown-up, I write books for kids - 70 so far and counting. (My latest picture book is called Sometimes I Am Furious, illustrated by Joe Berger.) The Book of Blast Off! is my second book about space (the first one was just called Space – not the most imaginative title, it’s true). I love writing non-fiction for kids because, unlike grown-ups, you can’t blind them with science. You have to know what you’re talking about so you can explain things clearly. They’re the best audience and you want to be worthy of them.


I wrote

The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

By Timothy Knapman, Nik Henderson (illustrator),

Book cover of The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

What is my book about?

The perfect introduction to the story of space exploration for young readers. Rhyming text and bold and beautiful illustrations tell…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe

Timothy Knapman Why did I love this book?

Tim Peake is a bit of a hero of mine. He’s a British astronaut who’s spent time on the International Space Station.

More than that, he’s a great communicator – especially with kids – and his boundless enthusiasm for the adventure of space exploration is infectious. Explaining what might otherwise be big, scary ideas (how are stars made? What is antimatter?) in a way that is clear and interesting to younger readers isn’t easy, but he manages it effortlessly.

I learned a lot from this book.

By Tim Peake,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

DISCOVER THE UNIVERSE'S SECRETS WITH THIS FASCINATING FACT-FILLED BOOK FROM REAL-LIFE ASTRONAUT TIM PEAKE

Are you bursting to know the answers to REALLY BIG questions?
Like, how are stars made?
What will we find in a black hole?
Which fruit can create antimatter?
What even IS antimatter?

Well, put on your seatbelts and blast into space with your guide, astronaut Tim Peake, and a host of space experts in this fascinating adventure through space, time and the diary of our truly incredible universe.

The perfect gift for kids hungry to know more about space, the universe and our place in…


Book cover of The Darkest Dark

Timothy Knapman Why did I love this book?

Chris is another astronaut – and another great communicator.

In this book, he connects with younger readers by going back to his own childhood, in which he loved pretending to be a space hero fighting aliens (trust me, I can relate). But he was also afraid of the dark… until he watched the Apollo 11 moon landing on TV.

I’m a bit younger than him, but I also remember seeing that swooshy black and white footage being beamed back from the moon. Beyond the astronauts and the dusty moon surface was the darkest dark – the dark of space – and that’s when Chris learned that it can be fascinating: a place of mystery that is an amazing adventure to explore.

By Chris Hadfield, The Fan Brothers (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Darkest Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

This updated picture book of The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris Hadfield, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.

"While I was growing up, the Moon helped light the path to my dreams. But it was on a hot July night that my dreamy thoughts became real. The brave astronauts of Apollo 11 travelled to that distant place and stepped out onto its surface, their boots blazing a new trail in the ancient grey dust. Those footprints showed me that impossible things can happen." Chris Hadfield.

Young Chris is a very important astronaut. When Dad says it's time…


Book cover of Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

Timothy Knapman Why did I love this book?

This is a children’s version of the book that inspired the movie.

Like everyone else who saw that movie, I was blown away by the story – I was also thoroughly ashamed that I hadn’t heard about these amazing women before.

I’m no math whizz, so making all those impossibly complicated calculations – on which people’s lives would depend – is already completely beyond me. But doing so with such dignity and determination in the face of the daily grind of petty prejudice and poisonous ignorance puts them in the superhero category.

I was in tears in the movie, and once again when reading the book.

By Margot Lee Shetterly, Laura Freeman (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hidden Figures as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Based on the New York Times bestselling book and the Academy Award-nominated movie, author Margot Lee Shetterly and illustrator Laura Freeman bring the incredibly inspiring true story of four black women who helped NASA launch men into space to picture book readers!

Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math...really good.

They participated in some of NASA's greatest successes, like providing the calculations for America's first journeys into space. And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they…


Book cover of The Adventures of Tintin: Destination Moon

Timothy Knapman Why did I love this book?

This is a bit of a cheat, I’m afraid, as it’s the first book in a two-book story (which concludes in Explorers on the Moon) but once you’ve read this one you’ll be dying to find out what happens next.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a Tintin nut. I love all Hergé’s comic books about the intrepid boy reporter and have read them countless times. They’re pacy – certainly as zippy and exciting as any modern action movie – and the choice of angles and framing is worthy of a master of cinema.

In this one, Tintin and his friends are reunited with the eccentric Professor Calculus, who is working on a mission to the moon. But there are spies, saboteurs, and stowaways around, so there’s plenty of mystery and peril – as well as humor – when Tintin and the gang embark on an adventure that is out of this world.

By Herge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Adventures of Tintin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

The classic graphic novel. Professor Calculus is building a rocket, but Tintin quickly realizes that there are spies around every corner trying to steal the professor's design! When Professor Calculus' rocket finally takes off for the moon, Tintin and his dog Snowy are on board.


Book cover of The War of the Worlds

Timothy Knapman Why did I love this book?

This is a bit of a cheat too, because it’s not about us exploring space, it’s about creatures from space coming to Earth – in the classic tale of a Martian invasion.

Wells writes beautifully – and the book isn’t too long – but it’s maybe a bit much for readers of my book right now. I include it because I hope they’ll read it when they’re older. It had a big impact on me as a 10-year-old because the Martians land – and start their campaign of conquest and destruction – in the little corner of Surrey, England, where I grew up.

Writing at the height of empire, Wells was, in part, inviting us Brits to imagine what it would be like if, for once, a technologically superior power invaded us.

By H.G. Wells,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked The War of the Worlds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

But planet Earth was not only being watched - soon it would be invaded by monstrous creatures from Mars who strode about the land in great mechanical tripods, bringing death and destruction with them. What can possibly stop an invading army equipped with heat-rays and poisonous black gas, intent on wiping out the human race? This is one man's story of that incredible invasion, from the time the first Martians land near his home town, to the destruction of London. Is this the end of human life on Earth?


Explore my book 😀

The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

By Timothy Knapman, Nik Henderson (illustrator),

Book cover of The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

What is my book about?

The perfect introduction to the story of space exploration for young readers. Rhyming text and bold and beautiful illustrations tell the story of 15 of the most important space missions in history. From the first satellites, through the moon landings, Apollo 13, deep space probes, the space shuttle, the International Space Station, the Mars rover and beyond. Want to know more? The back of the book is packed with facts and photos. A celebration of the brave and brilliant people whose adventures in space and time have taught us so much about the glory and wonder of the universe. A delightful read at bedtime or any time a child wants to reach for the stars.

Book cover of The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe
Book cover of The Darkest Dark
Book cover of Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

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Beth Dotson Brown Author Of Rooted in Sunrise

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Why am I passionate about this?

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The Universe 71 books
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NASA 75 books