Written by: Dr. Dominic Walliman
Illustrated by: Ben Newman
For ages: Infant & Toddlers (Board Book)
Language: English
Topics Covered: STEM, Space.
Summary: This is another book sent to us by the publisher, Flying Eye Books, Nobrow in the UK, but all opinions are our own!
As you may have gathered already, we’re a teeny bit obsessed with all things Professor Astro Cat. The Astro Kittens series is no different. The ability to take complicated scientific concepts like telescopes, space probes, and Newton’s second law of motion and break them down for children will never cease to amaze us. The only issue we have with the book series is that there’s only two so far! Highly recommend this whole series, it’s the best way we’ve found to be able to educate young people on space and cosmic occurrences without being a physicist ourselves.
About the Author & the Illustrator:
Dominic Walliman is a physicist, and award-winning science writer. He is co-creator of the Professor Astro Cat science books with illustrator Ben Newman.
Dominic received his PhD in quantum device physics from the University of Birmingham, and currently works at the quantum computing company D-Wave Systems Inc. As well as writing, he enjoys making films and animations to explain science and has produced a series of online videos communicating D-Wave’s groundbreaking quantum technology and his own videos about general science.
He has been writing science books since 2011, and he aims to give children super fun and clear explanations of science through the adventures of Professor Astro Cat. He grew up reading science books and remembers vividly the excitement of discovering the mind boggling explanations that science gives us about the Universe. If he can pass on this wonder and enjoyment to the next generation, he will consider it a job well done.
Ben Newman has developed a distinct aesthetic over the years; a contemporary fusion of bold shapes, bright colours and playful characters which has been described as ‘bauhaus fuzzy felt.’ He has produced work for a large range of clients, including the Tate Modern, New York Times, BBC Radio 4, Google and The New Yorker. His practice extends outside of commercial work into worldwide exhibitions, paintings and three dimensional collaborations. Nowadays, he spends the majority of his time collaborating on the Professor Astro Cat children’s books with his longtime friend and scientist, Dr Dominic Walliman, which are published by Flying Eye Books and have been translated into 18 other languages.
Concurrent to working as a freelance illustrator, Newman lectures on illustration at various universities and conferences in the UK and Europe.