The latest book in the Twinkl Originals series is called Back to Earth with a Bump. Twinkl subscribers can download the PDF and eBook versions now. However, only the printed version will have their fabulous new Augmented Reality technology embedded in the pages.

I read this story with my younger child; he’s LKS2 but still enjoys listening to a good picture book. It’s completely new to both of us, although we’ve read previous Twinkl Originals books before.

Back to Earth with a Bump; Book Review

As with all previous Twinkl Originals stories, it’s written in rhyming prose. It helps to build a clear rhythm as you read aloud and draws you into the story. Hal is a little boy, dressed in striped pyjamas, about to go to sleep. (My son immediately identified with the character. It’s a familiar bedtime routine for most young children.) Hal’s bed is shaped like a space rocket, which is your clue for what will happen next in the story!

Zooming away in his bed-rocket, Hal flies into space to look for the missing sun! He visits several well-known space objects; the Moon, some stars and planet Mars. My son is KS2, so he immediately recognised each object. He really enjoyed explaining them to me before we turned the page to see Hal’s answer.

My son also knows quite a lot about the Solar System and why Hal needed to zoom to the other side of the Earth. However, it didn’t spoil his enjoyment one little bit. Honestly, it actually added to his delight. In his own words: “I liked all the rhyming, Hal’s bed and the pictures. And I like how they describe each thing that Hal finds. I wish my bed was a rocket!”

Back to Earth with a Bump; Teaching Resources

As always, Twink has lots of lovely resources to accompany this book. Whether your kids are into learning about space or just like reading books, there’s something for everyone.

Differentiated comprehension worksheets are great for checking who paid attention to the story! Minecraft and Roblox fans will love multiplication mystery pixel pictures. If you have older kids or don’t mind helping younger ones get messy, most children enjoy themed recipes.

Your EYFS children will like colouring pages and pencil control worksheets.

Back to Earth with a Bump teaching resources from Twinkl.

We love word searches!

For stretching KS1 kids or remedial work for LKS2, character descriptions are worth attempting. (An old high school teacher of mine, springs to mind. “Use any adjective except nice!”) Use themed stationery for retelling the story, writing your own version or drawing pictures. Help your KS2 kids take it further with this word mat. If you have an even larger age gap to juggle, try challenging your oldest children to write about Space in another language! Print this Spanish poster as an A4 word mat for los planetas del Sistema Solar. Alternatively, you can never be too old to come up with a funny mnemonic for the planets. (We usually use the standard boring My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.)

Back to Earth with a Bump; Favourite Resources

Of course, you don’t have to stick to Back to Earth with a Bump resources. We had a look at some of the different Space themed resources. There’s a lovely Space Sort the Sequence differentiated activity sheet; perfect for logical thinking and a precursor to computer coding. We also had a look at PlanIt Y5 Properties of Shapes Space Angles; good for reinforcing 360 degrees in a circle and 3 digit subtraction. (The cute story props are meant to be used for story stones but they’re just the right size to attach to coffee stirrers.)

Finally, our favourite learning activity is always word searches. So, my last resource suggestion is a lovely Back to Earth with a Bump word search! However, there are lots of other themed resources that I simply don’t have space to mention. (Apparently, I do have room for weak puns!)

Back to Earth with a Bump; Final Verdict

Back to Earth with a Bump is a Key Stage 1 picture book. This would be a delightful story to kickstart a KS1 Space topic. It would be equally great for a composite homeschool space topic if you have mixed age children. The Science parts are interesting for older kids and the pictures and prose are engaging for little ones.

For parents, it’s a lovely bedtime story even if you have slightly older children. Rhyming prose has an inherent comforting lilt. It’s also short enough that you’ll still have time for all those questions that only surface when it’s time to go to sleep!