- Non-Fiction
- Ages 7–11
- Science
A Day in the Life of an Astronaut, Mars and the Distant Stars
Book 3 of 4 in A Day in the LifeView the full series
A joke-packed comic guide to space, planets, stars and space travel. Great for children who love facts but want them delivered with cartoons, silly voices and bite-sized weirdness.
- Best for7–11
- FormatNon-fiction
- Length128 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr50 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
- Onomatopoeic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Exciting
- Thought provoking
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
This space-focused A Day in the Life volume takes readers through the Solar System, outer space and space travel with the same comic energy as the earlier books. Planets, storms, nebulae, black holes, historic space pioneers, animals in space and astronaut technology are turned into funny first-person entries and cartoon features, making very large ideas feel approachable. It is particularly strong for children who are fascinated by space but intimidated by dense reference books: the pages can be dipped into, laughed over and revisited in any order. Jess Bradley's illustrations make abstract facts visual and memorable, while Mike Barfield's comic voice keeps the information friendly rather than textbook-like. The result is both genuinely useful science non-fiction and an easy sell to reluctant readers, especially those who like space, facts and odd trivia.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–11
- Read aloud · 6–10
- Independent · 7–11
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Space
- Funny facts
- Comic non fiction
- Reluctant readers
- Dip in reading
Avoid if
- Prefers story driven books
- Wants deep space reference
- Wants calm bedtime reading
Particularly good for children who are…
- Interested in science
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Funny, fact-packed space science — a companion for the Earth-and-space topic and strong for retrieval.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the cartoon black holes — astronauts, planets, nebulae, animals in space, all narrating themselves in tiny first-person comic strips. The Barfield space book for a child obsessed with space but intimidated by a dense reference book.
- Adventure and freedom
- Making a difference
Why parents love it
The Barfield space volume — Jess Bradley making abstract astrophysics visual and memorable, same dip-in cartoon format. Useful for the kid who wants facts but won't read straight text. Reliable reluctant-reader fit.
- Shared humour
- Educational for adult too
- Quick to read
- Conversation starter
In the series
A Day in the Life.
4 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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