Maow Nobrow

Back on the topic of non-fiction literature made more accessible for children through illustration, Nobrow Press have released a book called Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space! Prof. Astro Cat also has an app which allows children to take part in his animated adventures through space and time. The book and app serve to teach kids about gravity, extra-terrestrial life and time in an entertaining way. Dr. Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman seem keen to break down the preconceived ideas that science and art are not compatible and that learning needs to be dull and structured on the Victorian school model.

The Astro Cat book has a beautiful set of infographics, with cute characters to give it a story-like element and plenty of illustrated facts to help children retain the information. The book, like most of Nobrow's publications it is printed so that it feels personal and more like a treasured possession than simply a mass-produced publication to sit on the shelf and eventually end up in a car boot sale. Nobrow Press' attention to detail in the publication makes the knowledge inside the book feel like what it is; a very precious commodity, and Ben Newman's illustrations bring life to the facts in a way that combines the arts and sciences seemingly seamlessly. The book is something to be cherished and the app brings Astro Cat into the modern age.