I Would Have LOVED to Get Postcards From Space When I Was a Kid

I listen to a couple of podcasts about independent publishing. One of them is the Self Publishing Show who recently interviewed Miles Hudson about his writing project, Postcards From Space. The idea is that actual photos from space (copyright free images from NASA and the European Space Agency) are sent out weekly from a fictional kid and their dog as they travel through space.

Junior astronaut Tanno, and their spacedog, Iguda

As a child I would have loved this. I adored reading about space and I was so excited when I received any kind of post. So I subscribed my niece and nephew to it and this is what my nephew thought:

He lives in London and it has been tough going through a year of on and off lockdown because of Covid. They are coming out of it now, but Postcards From Space are something fun to read whilst they are waiting to be able to go on their own trips.

Read more about the postcards here:

Postcards From Space

Illustrations by Eli Allison

FAB (Friends Against Bullying) Club Advance Reading Team

The FAB Club Advance Reading Team are up to chapter three of the third and final book in the middle grade series about the friends who stand up to bullying. It's not too late to join in. Here are the first three chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

If you want to help out and be credited in the book, drop me a line at FAB@alexhallatt.com.

FAB Club 2 Wins Bronze in the Wishing Shelf Awards for Books for Children 9-12

FAB Club 2 – Friends Against Cyberbullying has just won bronze in the wishing shelf Book awards. FAB (Friends Against Bullying) Club was shortlisted for the award last year, so I’m delighted that the sequel was an even bigger hit with young readers.

Click the image below to see the other winners in the awards.

Finding Great Children's Books Online With Toppsta

One of the hardest things about being an independent author is getting people to see your books, especially if they are to be found amongst the thousands online. 

Amazon is the biggest online retailer of children's books by far, But it really only works well if you know what you are looking for. If you are looking for something new, you are unlikely to discover the best books, rather the books that sell really well. This means books that have been published for a long time, or books that have been put out by celebrity authors, or those that are already bestsellers. Because Amazon promotes books that already sell well on Amazon, it is only easy to find books that are already successful.

So where do you go if you want to discover new books for children? Where can you find ones that are written well and enjoyed by kids no matter who has published them, or how famous the author is?

This is where Toppsta comes in, by collecting reviews and ranking books accordingly. The Toppsta website says,

“We collect reviews from children and parents (and grandparents and librarians..) and ... you’ll find the top books for each year from babies to teenagers and every age in between!

We hope you’ll discover new books, new authors and new series and we’d love it if you’d join our community and write reviews of children’s books you’ve enjoyed. It takes less than 5 minutes to write a book review and you’ll be helping other children (and parents) find the very best books to read.”

I'd recommend you head over to Toppsta and review some books you've read and discover some you haven't. And a giveaway of FAB Club is running in the month of September 2018. Click the image below to head to Toppsta and enter.

click to find FAB Club on Toppsta

FAB Indoor and Outdoor Games For Kids

My latest children's book, FAB Club 2, features games. I've written up the rules and you can find them by heading to the FAB Club page, or clicking below.

These were some of the many games we played as kids, as we weren't allowed to watch TV (there wasn't much on anyway, as for most of my childhood there were only 3 channels and video didn't come along until I was a teenager) and rarely went away on holiday. But we had great fun and I wouldn't have wanted a different childhood. At least at home.