Algy’s Amazing Adventures in Space by Kaye Umansky Review

Reviewed by Louise Platt

We were invited to review an Orion Early Reader Book – Algy’s Amazing Adventures in Space by Kaye Umansky.

This is a Red Early Reader which is “the next step on your reading journey”. The Blue Early Readers, which would be the level below Red are “perfect for sharing and reading together”.

My son who is almost five and is in Reception, is embarking on his reading journey and has a long way to go before he could read this book independently. So I read the book to him. This worked perfectly as the book is so beautifully illustrated he could follow the story and engage with it with ease.

My first impression of this book was the quality. It’s a paperback with a glossy front and back cover and really thick stock paper inside.

There is a lovely balance of colour pictures and copy with no more than one paragraph to each page, which means that although the book has 74 pages it only took about ten minutes to read out loud from start to finish.

The book is one complete story and is presented as six separate chapters which I really liked as it is a step on from the picture heavy books we have been borrowing from school and the library.

At the end of each chapter the reader is left in suspense, wanting to move to the next chapter to find out what happens. There are also plenty of opportunities within the story to discuss what is happening, and explore the characters and what they are thinking and feeling. And also ask “what do you think is going to happen next…?”

The content of the book is perfect for the young mind. The story unfolds as Algy and his friends find themselves on an adventure in Space which fires the imagination perfectly and really appealed to my son who loves Robots, Space Travel and Aliens. I won’t say more about the plot or what happens here but as a grown up I did enjoy the story (which can’t always be said for children’s books!!!).

I would highly recommend this book and would really like to read the other books in the Early Reader Series. We have enjoyed reading it now and I am sure that my son will enjoy reading it to himself when his reading skills develop in the future.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £4.99 | ISBN: 9781444006902 | Format: Paperback | Pages: 80

Algy’s Amazing Adventures in Space is available to buy from Orion Books here.