Astrid has a secret. After her bath, book and climbing into bed, she is not planning to sleep. When the clock strikes 12, she takes off her pyjamas to get ready. She’s wearing her Space Cadet uniform underneath, prepared for action! Climbing into her wardrobe (Intergalactic Transport Pod), Astrid is keen to meet up with her Space Cadet friends for another adventure.

On board their ship, they are soon given instructions by The Chief – their intergalactic boss. With the promise of another gold star for their achievement chart, they are asked to go and clean up a messy part of the Milky Way. They are all hoping that the prize at the end of a full star chart will be something yummy like donuts, so they set off on a clean-up mission.

The job turns out to be so much more than imagined, but a distress call from another planet interrupts them. Giant Snailiens are eating everything in sight. Can Astrid and her alien Space Cadet friends stop them?

The first book in this series for emerging chapter books readers, Astrid and the Space Cadets is not only full of exciting adventure, the interior design of the illustrations, action-packed fonts and chapters draw the reader in even more.

These Space Cadets mean well, but things go wrong, and then very wrong, then incredibly wrong, building the tension to a thrilling climax. Giant Snailiens are a real challenge, but all is not lost.

Would make a great bedtime read as it ends with Astrid climbing back into bed, putting her pyjamas on over her Space Cadet uniform, and falling asleep.

Author / Illustrator – Alex T Smith

Age – 7+

(2024, Pan Macmillan, Adventure, Action, Aliens, Humour, Funny, Giant Snails, Mission, Clean-u, Rubbish, Milky Way, Planets, Galaxy, Cadets, Teamwork, Gadgets, Space, Secret, Series)