- Anthologies
- Ages 6–10
- Comedy
Tales of Time and Space
Book 2 of 2 in Tales ofView the full series
Part of the Terry Pratchett universeOpen the collection
A short, newly packaged Pratchett collection for younger readers who like time travel, space, and comic speculative ideas. It is less substantial than the larger early-story anthologies but more approachable as a quick sampler.
- Best for6–10
- FormatAnthology
- Length144 pp
- Read aloud~58 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Absurdist
- Adventurous
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Tales of Time and Space brings together a compact selection of Terry Pratchett's funny children's stories with a speculative flavour. Time travel, strange journeys, impossible ideas, and comic science-fiction logic sit alongside the playful wordplay and absurd turns that mark Pratchett's early writing. The shorter length makes this edition especially accessible for younger readers, dipping readers into Pratchett's imagination without requiring them to commit to a long novel or even a large anthology. Mark Beech's illustrations support the humour and make the stories feel light, lively, and visually broken up. This is a good choice for children interested in time, space, inventions, and nonsense science, and a useful stepping-stone toward Pratchett's longer children's books.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 6–10
- Read aloud · 5–10
- Independent · 6–10
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Moderate
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Short story collection
- Funny science fiction
- Younger pratchett gateway
- Time travel comedy
- Quick reads
Avoid if
- Needs single long plot
- Wants discworld
- Wants serious science fiction
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Interested in science
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Funny, inventive Terry Pratchett tales — a great independent read and classroom-library pick.
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 speculative flavour — time travel and strange journeys and impossible inventions and comic science-fiction logic, all in short story form. The Pratchett juvenilia for a kid drawn to time-and-space ideas who doesn't want a long novel yet.
- Time travel
- Adventure and freedom
- Breaking the rules safely
- Secret world
Why parents love it
The newest Pratchett juvenilia volume — compact speculative collection, Beech's illustrations supporting the comic tone, accessible stepping stone toward Pratchett's longer children's books. Gateway-Pratchett continued.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Nostalgia
In the series
Tales of.
2 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.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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