The many giant leaps in literature

The first moon landing occurred on 20 July 1969. This may have been a giant leap for man, but minds have been travelling into space for generations.

In celebration of our step into the unknown, let's have a look at a few characters who have journeyed much further. Many of these texts are taken from the Kumon Recommended Reading List.

In George's Secret Key to the Universe, by Lucy & Stephen Hawking, George discovers his new neighbour's amazing computer called Cosmos. This computer can transport a person to any point in the universe!



Unfortunately, George isn't the only one to have discovered this secret!

Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time sees thirteen-year-old Meg Murry embark upon a mysterious adventure to find her father.

Helped by Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which, Meg, her brother Charles and her friend Calvin, find themselves transported by means of the tesseract, through the universe, hopping from planet to planet in a battle between good and evil.

In Emily Smith's Astrid, the Au Pair from Outer Space, it isn't a human who has travelled to space, but rather an alien has arrived in the form of the au pair.

Harry is suspicious when his mum tells him they are inviting someone into the house to help look after him and his baby brother. He becomes all the more suspicious when Astrid arrives and she is a little odd! And odder still is her suitcase which keeps moving around on its own!

Douglas Adams' The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy sees Arthur Dent, the hapless Englishman, traveling around the galaxy, following the demolition of Earth. Suddenly Arthur's world is filled with weird and wonderful characters such as the computer named Deep Thought, Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

In David Wyatt's Larklight, the Mumsby family live in a house that orbits Earth's moon. Under attack from an extra-terrestrial, disguised as a Mr Webster from the Royal Xenological Society, siblings Art and Myrtle escape, however their father is captured. How will they rescue him and find a way back to normality?

Perhaps today is the perfect day for you to journey into the unknown with one of these literary classics.