Northampton boy relaunches space book for other autistic children

Aston Smith holding a planet on a string

A 10-year-old boy has released a second series of his book about space after its first edition sold out.

Aston Smith, who is autistic and has ADHD, wrote Things About Space with an accompanying audio version to help neuro-divergent children or those who struggle to read.

The Northampton schoolboy described the second run as "a kind of a double whammy".

“It’s a book burger, a sandwich or burger of audio books and visual books,” he said.

The second edition of Aston Smith's book has a 200-strong waiting list

The first edition of Things About Space had a print run of 30 copies, and sold out immediately to friends and family.

The British astronaut, Tim Peake, also contacted the family after learning about Aston’s space book - and signed a copy for him.

With a waiting list of 200 people from around the world, Aston was keen to get publishing again.

The updated version features artwork created by Aston using his iPad, including an image of the planets lined up.

"Of course, this isn’t how they’d actually look, they’d be a lot further out (from each other)," Aston explained.

His mother Lyndsay, who has been helping with the publication, said children had sent her son messages saying: "You've inspired me."

“Aston refers to his autism as his superpower, rather than it being a disability," she said.

"And I think’s that’s probably been the greatest thing that’s come out of this, his confidence growing, and other child seeing that as well.”

Aston wrote the book with the help of parents Lyndsay and Paul Smith

Aston said: “I want to become a professional astronomer.

"It’s been my dream to constantly have a look at the sky and see what’s there, and I want to help kids in need so that they can also discover things that they would like to learn about."

A QR code allows people to follow a read-along version of the book, recorded by Aston.

It was designed to help children like him focus on reading.

“I really do think that more books should have that option," he said.

“And that’s makes it easier for other kids who also have those syndromes and that struggle.”