Space: beautiful, mysterious – and deadly. That’s the message astrophysicist and author Dr Eileen O’Hely brings to life in her graphic novel, 50 Ways to Die in Space.
This month, Eileen will share her book at a free event at Chermside Library, perfect for curious young minds aged 5 to 12.
In the interactive session, Eileen will use puppets to act out scenes from the book, which she said was full of facts about space and physiology.
“Space travel is really, really hard and inherently risky,” she said.
“Astronauts do lots of training and have ridiculous numbers of support staff to keep them alive in space. I had to learn a lot of physiology myself. Then I made it gross and fun, because I like to make people laugh.”
Kids will also get to build and launch air rockets and ask Eileen their space-related questions.
Science Meets Storytelling for Young Minds
After studying astrophysics, Eileen said she decided to write books that readers wanted to read for fun, rather than scientific papers they had to read for work.
“I didn’t purposely aim to be a children’s writer, just a writer, but it turns out my best writing is for children,” she said. “I now work part-time as a science communicator and part-time as a writer, so 50 Ways to Die in Space is the perfect combination of my interests and skills.”
She said storytelling was a great way for kids to learn because they were naturally curious.
“Storytelling is intrinsic to human culture,” she said. “You can put a lot of facts in front of someone, but that’s a pretty boring way to learn. By disguising facts in a story, the reader has more context.”
Booking required. Phone Chermside Library on 3403 7200.
50 Ways to Die in Space with Dr Eileen O’Hely
- Thursday, 10 July, 11am-12pm
- Chermside Library
- 375 Hamilton Road, Chermside
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