intergalactic journey home book

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home by David Cadji-Newby & Pedro Serapicos

By: Author Elizabeth Lampman

Posted on July 26, 2016

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is the brand new personalised book from the same people behind the fabulous Lost My Name books. For the child that wants to be an astronaut,  The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home  takes them on a journey through actual outer space and back to their home. “The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home combines the power of storytelling with technology to create a magical and personalized storytelling experience for children,” said Asi Sharabi, co-founder of Lost My Name. “Not only do children get to star as a main character in the story, their actual neighbourhood appears at the end of the book when they’ve finally found their way home.” The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home follows a child and their robot friend on an adventure from the depths of outer space to their own front door. The experience is different for every child as aspects of the storyline and imagery are personalized based upon where they actually live – from the country flag on the spaceship and the view of Earth from outer space, to seeing familiar pictures of key country, city and town locations as the adventure gets closer to its conclusion where the child returns to their actual home address. The story is brought vividly to life utilizing NASA’s open source photography of outer space, and mapping technologies that enable a close-up flyby of the child’s actual neighbourhood and landmarks near their house. “We’ve taken personalization to a higher level, creatively and technically, and we’re always looking for innovative ways to introduce The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home to the world,” said David Cadji-Newby, author and co-founder of Lost My Name. “A copy of the story is actually on the International Space Station right now and was recently read by British astronaut Tim Peake in space.”

Personalised for your child, The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is a gorgeous book full of beautiful, vibrant illustrations which fill every page. The attention to detail is amazing, especially the illustrations of the planets. Typically we see planets depicted as being a perfect globe – but of course that isn’t completely true and I loved seeing what Earth really looks like with mountains and all.

There are a few things about this book that really sets it apart from all other personalised stories for me.

The first being that the book is completely personalised beyond just your child’s name. Your child can choose their character – Ava, my 2 year old, decided the brunette looked just like her and Keira, my 4 year old, decided to choose the little black girl. It is also personalised with your home address to zoom in on a satellite image of your neighbourhood, including your own home as well as an illustration of a landmark near your home.

The second thing is that it is a well written story with an actual plot. An exciting plot at that.

My girls LOVE to point themselves out in the book and get really excited about “their” robot and rocket ship.

My 4 year old can recognise her name by sight and the grin on her face when she realised what the constellations in the book were spelling out was priceless.

All in all, this book would make a wonderful gift for any child. For additional information or to purchase The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home please visit: www.lostmy.name

Elizabeth Lampman is a coffee-fuelled Mom of 2 girls and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She enjoys travelling, developing easy recipes, crafting, taking on diy projects, travelling and saving money!

kathy downey

Wednesday 3rd of August 2016

This would make a wonderful gift idea,i really like it.

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Friday 6 November 2015

The incredible intergalactic journey home ~ personalised children's book review.

2 comments:

This book is the type I would have bought when my son was little, but it would also be a lovely present for a friend. What a fab idea, Story Time from Space.

Thanks for your comment! It is a great gift to give to a friend or relative with a young child - something special that won't just end up in the toy box :)

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I read every one and try my best to reply!

This Magical Children’s Book Knows Where You Live

The future is officially here, kids; an amazing new personalized children’s book knows where you live , and will take you (I mean, your child) on a magical adventure to get there. The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is the latest offering from Lost My Name, the publishing company who made us all cry happy-tears with their first (wildly successful) books: The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name and The Little Boy Who Lost His Name . The company specializes in books with wonderfully personal touches; these aren’t just templates with your name (ahem, your child’s name) thrown casually in. No, these books feel like they’re written specially for you. (I mean, your ch— OK fine, I don’t have a child. I’m just buying these books for myself .)

In The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home , you are the main character — and you’ve got yourself totally lost in space. On your epic journey home, you have to first find your own planet, then your country, then your town… Do you see where this is going? Finally, in the most unbelievable twist since the end of The Usual Suspects , the spaceship ends up flying right up to your own front door, and teaching you about the importance of home.

Lost My Name received a $9 million investment from Google Ventures back in June, so we should have suspected some pretty sensational technology was on its way — and The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home certainly doesn’t disappoint. Not only are children treated to satellite pictures of their home, the books are brought to life throughout with NASA’s jaw-dropping outer space photography — and every child will fly through a completely unique version of space. So even if you buy these books for siblings, they’ll each have a totally different experience while reading it. Neat.

I think we can all now agree that finding water on Mars was just the second most exciting space-related thing to happen this week. Yeah, the possibility of alien life is great and all — but The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is out of this world. Literally.

Images: courtesy of Lost My Name

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The incredible intergalactic journey home book review

Noah received a great book from the people that create the lost my name book. The incredible intergalactic journey home  is a fantastic, personalised book, which has Noah’s name written in the stars and has an aerial shot of our neighbourhood. It is amazing. 

Noah loved seeing his name in the stars, his face was a picture when he realised. He loved turning the pages and seeing the wonderful illustrations, he enjoyed talking about the planets too as I think he had been learning about them in reception. So he was bringing his knowledge of the planets from the book. 

The story follows a child from outer space, finding their way right to their very own front door. I won’t spoil any of the fun twists and turns from the storyline. You simply must read it for yourself. 

It is so good, in fact, Tim Peake recently read it from space, Lost my name can hardly believe it happened. You can check the video out here , or see the video below: 

It is really easy to order the book, you simply enter your name and address into the order form and a few days later the book arrives, personalised with the name and a street view screenshot of the neighbourhood of the address. It is really easy. The book is such great quality, just like the Lost my name book. 

The book is only £19.99, it would make a fantastic Christmas gift or a special treat for any space adventurer. You can order your very own book from the Lost my name website:  www.lostmy.name .

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Mummyconstant.

Sonia Constant is a qualified project manager and photographer. She lives in Cambridgeshire with her adventure loving husband and 2 beautiful children aged (13 and 11). Sonia has been writing this blog since she was pregnant with her first child, so just over 13 years. Sonia, and family, loves being in the great outdoors and making memories.

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The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home | Personalized Books For Kids

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The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home

Titled The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home, it incorporates the high tech world around us into an incredibly engaging and adventurous personalized book about an astronaut on a rocket in space, with your child as the main character. What’s more, is that it comes in multi-language , at the moment in English, German and French.

We received a copy of this book from Wonderbly, who also published the famous “Lost My Name” books which I recently wrote about in “The Little Boy Who Lost His Name” .

SEE THE WONDERBLY WEBSITE HERE

Here are some of the reasons why kids will love “The Intergalactic Journey Home”:

The astronaut can be personalized to look like your child

Your child is the star of the story flying through space in their very own rocket. The astronaut in the story can be personalized to look like your child.

So personalized that it has actual satellite images of your child’s home

Flying high, your child can recognize landmarks near their home, and see a bird’s eye view of their house.

Lots of little personalized details throughout the story

Every little detail is personalized. Imagine seeing your little astronauts face when they turn the page to see their own name written up in the stars. Or when they see that their plane has the flag of their home country.

The illustrations are colorful and appealing to young children, and the paper is of a high quality which makes it hard to tear, perfect for little hands.

Ordering your copy of “The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home”

An interactive process from the start, ordering your personalized book is easy! You simply visit the WONDERBLY WEBSITE,  select the book “Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home”, and fill in the blanks.

To start with, fill in your child’s name, the look of your little astronaut, and the language you would like the book to come in. Once you proceed to the next page you are able to insert your home address and write a dedication. Of course if you don’t want to use your real address, you can use one near or special to you and your child.

Viewing your personalized book

The coolest thing about it is that you can view your book online before you buy it, so you can read the story. Once you have ordered you should receive your copy within a week or two depending on your location.

Wonderbly have excellent customer service so if you have any issues you only have to send them through an email and they are quite fast to reply with answers.

For more details on creating your own personalized book for kids, take at look at the Wonderbly website and see what your version of The Intergalactic Journey Home will look like. You won’t be disappointed!

Looking for other kids book recommendations? Check out other bilingual / multi-language books. Raising a bilingual child?   Subscribe  for related articles. Follow Bilingual KidSpot on  Facebook  and join our  private discussion group .

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Bilingual Kidspot is a website offering practical advice for parents seeking to raise bilingual or multilingual children; with inspiration, support and strategies based on experience as a parent, and as a teacher of a foreign language to children.

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This may be the most high-tech children’s picture book of all time

Kids these days. They grow up with iPads, smart homes, and now, picture books like “The Intergalactic Journey Home” that utilize mapping technology and NASA images to create “highly personalized story experiences.” And as classic as “Goodnight, Moon” is for older generations, it seems that the literature of our childhood just doesn’t compare to the high-tech bedtime stories of today.

Lost My Name , self-described as a “full-stack” publishing start-up, is comprised of “three sleep-deprived dads (and an uncle),” who simply grew tired of the inadequate selection of interesting (and effective) children’s books on the market. So they became “dadpreneurs,” creating a solution to a problem they’d all experienced firsthand — getting their children (or nieces and nephews) interested in reading.

Lost My Name first exploded onto the literary scene in 2012 upon the release of the firm’s first book, titled “The Little Boy/Girl Who Lost His/Her Name,” which allowed parents to order an actual, name- and gender-specific story for their child, rather than just having to fill in the blank. In just over a year, their debut book surpassed 600,000 in sales, and in 2014, ranked as the UK’s top-selling picture book.

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And now, Lost My Name is moving overseas, focusing on American audiences with the publishing of “The Intergalactic Journey Home,” heralded as “the most technically ambitious picture book of all time.” The latest story tells of “an amazing journey from space to [each child’s] front door.” Parents submit their kids’ names and addresses, giving their little tykes a highly stylized story experience that is sure to delight and entertain.

The tale, Lost My Name tells Digital Trends, follows a child and his or her robot companion on an “intergalactic adventure that takes them far from home.” As the child makes her way back through the universe, she sees familiar pictures from her country, city, street, and ultimately front door. This, Lost My Name explains, is achieved by “leveraging unique mapping technology and even images from NASA.”

And while technology is clearly an integral component of the book, there’s a certain sense of nostalgia baked into “The Intergalactic Journey Home” as well — after all, this isn’t a story that you read on a tablet. Rather, it plays a supporting role, and rather encourages families to “to have a traditional and treasured story time” with a physical book. 

“The Intergalactic Journey Home” is tech meets children’s literature in the best way possible.  What could go wrong? 

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The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home - Review & Competition

95 comments:

Love for my nephew Ethan

I would love this for our son Jack

For my niece Willow. :)

I'd love to win for my grandson Tommie

My Grandson, Matthew

My daughter, Danielle. We already have The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name, and I think it's so clever.

I'd love this book for my little niece Paisley!

Would love this for my daughter Morgan

my grandaughter Whitney x

my lil Amy @msedollyp

my niece Lacie May x

my daughter Olivia-May

My sister Lauren

It would be for my daughter, Tessa :)

I'd love to win for my son, Neirin :)

For my friends daughter Lily May

My little boy Luca :)

My son Jenson

Charlotte x

I would personalise this book for Jack

Digby - the nursery bear!

Jack. Rachel Craig

My daughter, Isabella.

I would like to personalise this book for my daughter Chloe.

Didn't know this book existed until today. I am a literacy coordinator at a primary school and my class of 30 5 and 6 year olds would absolutely love this story. We are learning about space at the moment and have been studying 'The Way Home' by Oliver Jeffers. This book would fit in perfectly with our work.

my two nephews Harley and austin

friend of the family Aidan

This would be great for my son Tristan.

My granddaughter Freyja

Love to win for my daughter Sheriah

For a little man called Ashton

I have a Noah too! :-)

It would be lovely for my step-granddaughter, Penny

Isabella would love this!!

I would get it for my nephew Jarvis

My little boy Joel would love a Space Adventure of his very own. x

My grandson Jack

"Little Trouble" !!!!! Sums him up ;)

It will be for my daughter Aaliyah

My granddaughter, Roxie

my grandson isn't born yet so I can't give a name but I would still love to win please

My son Jack.

I think it would be ideal for my niece Pippa.

I would have it personalised for Jackson. Love the look of this book xx

id give this to my nephew Arthur

Lyra-Mai as already had a lost my name made up for Lexi-Rai my youngest at Christmas and now Lyra wants one too lol. Thank you for the chance to win.

My grandson Henry

I love this book haha!

would love this for my nephew

Would be for Edward

For my Lily

My granddaughter, Lisa

Amira (@PeanutHog)

love to win and put my daughters name mali on it

i would love this for my friends little girl. she would love this

This would be lovely for my son Seth

Our little girl Ellie

My niece Amity

My daughter Elena :)

My son William

My son Daniel James Henry

for my niece MIA

My daughter Céleste

I would love this for my daughter Jasmine

Harley please xx

My son would love this.

My Willow would love this. X

Poppy for my niece x

My great grandson Nate

My daughter Bella x

I'd personalise it for Xander.

For my daughter Jessica

This book looks great! my son would love it

what a beautiful book

These books are fantastic, Megan loves hers as its personalised with her name, I will definitely be getting one for Mollie when she's a little older xxx

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home  is the newest book from the folks at Lost My Name . This adorable picture book is personalized with both your child’s name and their home. In the story, your child is joined by a cute robot named Hubble. Together, they must find their way from outer space to earth and then find the right continent and city to reach home.

When Sunshine and Lily read The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home , they got to the last page and said, “Look, Mom! They have the same house number as we do!”

I laughed and asked them, “Who is the story about?”

They’d totally missed Pearl’s name in the front of the book. Once they realized it was about their littlest sister and our home, they were so excited they read the whole book again.

In The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home , Pearl (or your child) and Hubble meet other travelers who help them find their way home. They recognize various things that point the way back to their home. One page in the book is an actual Google map of YOUR home, so you can have fun finding familiar landmarks on it with your child. There’s also a world map earlier in the book, with an arrow pointing to where your child lives.

The story ends on a delightful, cozy note:

Still, at times along the way, she’d felt so lost and small, so far from all the people who would miss her most of all. But here, back home where she belonged, one thing was for sure. In the whole entire universe, no girl could be loved more.

One of the things I love about all the Lost My Name books is their adorable illustrations. Whether it’s imaginary aliens or lions in Africa, there is so much to look at on every page. The words twirl around the page, making it more fun to read.

When personalizing the book for your child, you can pick one of three different characters to represent him or her. I picked a blonde girl with a purple polka-dot space suit for Pearl.

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home offers a delightful way to talk about home and what it means with children. You can use this as a starting point for memorizing a new address or identifying some of the things that make your home different from other places around the world.

To order The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home for your child , or check out the other Lost My Name books, drop by the website . You can also follow Lost My Name on social media and subscribe to their email newsletter for cute updates and ideas for kids’ activities.

About The Author

Bonnie Way is a homeschool mom with five children ages 13 to 3. She has a B.A. in English (2006) and a B.A. in Writing (2014). She grew up in Alberta and now makes her home in Vancouver, BC. When she's not blogging or homeschooling, she enjoys downhill skiing, exploring Vancouver's parks, drinking coffee with friends, reading, and playing board games with her family.

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“What you cannot imagine, you cannot do”

Now imagine astronauts on the space station reading stories to and conducting science experiments for the children of earth as the world rotates below. imagine no more…it’s story time from space.

Story Time from Space is a project of the Global Space Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education foundation .

We send children’s books to the International Space Station.

While in space, astronauts are videotaping themselves reading these books to the children of Earth. These videos are being edited and placed on this Story Time From Space website- look under the heading ” Story Time Videos”.

Astronauts on the ISS will also conduct and videotape educational demonstrations designed by Veteran Canadian Astronaut, Bjarni Tryggvason, to complement the science concepts found in the Story Time From Space books – look under the heading “Science Time Videos”.

To make Story Time From Space even more useful for educators, cross-content curriculum is being designed to support the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core. All of these materials, along with the videos from orbit, will be posted here on the Story Time from Space website, providing easy access for educators, families, libraries, science centers, scouts and others – look under the heading “Curriculum”.

Story Time From Space was started by educator Patricia Tribe and astronaut Alvin Drew, and also now includes veteran astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason who is designing the science demonstrations, Jack Moore who is designing the website & marketing,educator Debbie Brown-Biggs and author Jeffrey Bennett, who joined the team after his books were chosen and has granted permission for all his work to be used by Story Time From Space. CASIS (Center for the Advancement of Science in Space) have supported our research and supported us in the process of getting the educational payloads up to the ISS.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

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Build your own bedtime story with this online tool

Lost My Name is helping kids learn to read -- with data . The London-based startup creates personalised children's books: enter a name into its web tool and it generates a story. Its first book, The Boy [Or Girl] Who Lost His/Her Name , has sold more than 600,000 copies. "Personalised books have been on the market for more than 40 years, but have never been taken seriously," Lost My Name co-founder Asi Sharabi told WIRED.

Sharabi and co-founders Tal Oron, writer David Cadji-Newby and illustrator Pedro Serapicos set out to help children learn their name by making the letters in them into characters. To create a database of names, Sharabi consulted the UK Census. Lost My Name now has 1,000 illustrations in seven languages, and in June secured $9 million (£5.7m) in funding led by Google Ventures.

Its next book, The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home , out in September, teaches kids about places -- with the help of generated galaxies, Nasa images and GPS data. "We're combining the power of stories with technology to create magical experiences," says Sharabi. "Books have been neglected as a medium for innovation 
-- we're changing that."

This article was originally published by WIRED UK

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A horror film shot in 1993 under strange circumstances develops a rabid cult following, leading Hollywood to plan a high-profile reboot. When the only surviving original cast member returns, troubling secrets about the original film begin to leak out. (June 11)

Moonbound by Robin Sloan

“Like many adventurers before him, Ariel is called to explore a world full of unimaginable glories and challenges ... but none of this happens before Ariel comes across an artifact from an earlier civilization, a sentient, record-keeping artificial intelligence that carries with it the perspective of the whole of human history.” (June 11)

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

When a family moves to “the planned Black utopia of Liberty, California hoping to find a community of like-minded people,” the husband fits right in—but the wife soon becomes suspicious of what’s really going on beneath the town’s seemingly perfect surface. (June 11)

Rogue Sequence by Zac Topping

“It’s 2091 and independent contract companies around the world are producing genetically modified soldiers… to be sold to the highest bidders.” (June 11)

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland

This fantasy novel is described as “a queer pirate standalone adventure”—and you can read an excerpt here . (June 11)

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton

This debut novel is described as “part space odyssey, part sapphic rom-com,” as well as “a suspenseful, charming, and irresistibly joyous tale of fierce friendship, improbable love, and wonder as vast as the universe itself.” (June 11)

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

A grad student trying to move past her former life—she was once the best art thief in the galaxy—is lured back into the game when she’s hired to track down a powerful artifact that could potentially save an entire alien species from extinction. (June 11)

Stories I Told My Dead Lover by Jo Paquette

“Eight searing tales of psychological horror that probe the darkest and most deeply buried parts of the human psyche.” (June 11)

The Fire Within Them by Matthew Ward

“The sprawling Kingdom of Khalad stands alone ... but hope lies with two: Kat, an accomplished thief, and Vallant, a rebel and folk hero. Together they will light a fire that will burn away the corruption and tyranny of King Diar’s rule.” (June 14)

The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

This historical fantasy is set aboard the Trans-Siberian Express—albeit one that carries its passengers across a magical landscape known as the Wastelands, a place full of dangerous creatures amid an ever-shifting wilderness. (June 18)

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima

This surreal short-story collection spirals from an intriguing premise: “At a Halloween party in 1999, a writer slept with the devil. She sees him again and again throughout her life and she writes stories for him about things that are both impossible and true.” (June 18)

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

This speculative thriller imagines that in a dangerously overpopulated world, some couples opt to have a “virtual child”—and then allow a reality show to follow along as they “raise” it, hoping to win the prize of the right to have a real baby.(June 18)

How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie

This horror novel follows “a famous 80s slasher director [who sets] out to shoot the most terrifying horror movie ever made using an occult camera that might be (and probably is) demonic.” (June 18)

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

“Annelid and Leveret met as children in the middle of the Sri Lankan civil war. They found each other in a torn-up nation, peering through propaganda to grasp a deeper truth. And in a demon-haunted wood, another act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey throughout the ages. No world can hold them, no life can bind them, and they’ll never leave each other behind.” (June 18)

The Runes of Engagement by Tobias S. Buckell and Dave Klecha

“ The Lord of the Rings meets Call of Duty in this delirious mashup pitting confused soldiers against legendary monsters. This riotous campaign of a novel could only have sprung from the nerdy minds of a science fiction award-winner and an extreme amateur landscaper.” (June 18)

We Speak Through the Mountain by Preemee Mohamed

This follow-up to The Annual Migration of Clouds follows a teen girl’s journey through Canadian mountains ravaged by climate change, seeking a new life in the post-apocalypse in a dome-enclosed community. What she finds, however, is hardly the utopia she’d hoped for. (June 18)

The Witchstone by Henry H. Neff

A teenage Curse Bearer teams up with an 800-year-old demon who’s also “Hell’s least productive Curse Keeper,” hoping to break the spell—a task that sees them undertake a wild, globe-trotting adventure. (June 18)

Beyond the Light Horizon by Ken MacLeod

The Lightspeed sci-fi trilogy concludes as John Grant navigates his way back from the past with the help of his onboard AI, discovering an unknown human settlement along the way. Meanwhile, other human settlements grapple with the lingering influence of the alien Fermi. (June 25)

The Bound Worlds by Megan E. O’Keefe

“Worlds will collide and fates will be rewritten in the thrilling conclusion to the Devoured Worlds space opera trilogy.” (June 25)

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

The Legacy of Orisha series comes to an end as Zélie faces her final enemy, desperate to save her people before it’s too late.(June 25)

The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman

“Enter the fray in this luminous new adventure from Christopher Buehlman, set during the war-torn, goblin-infested years just before The Blacktongue Thief .” (June 25)

Echo of Worlds by M.R. Carey

The follow-up to Infinity Gate wraps up the Pandominion series, described as follows: “a thrilling adventure set in the multiverse, it tells of humanity’s expansion across millions of dimensions, and the AI technology that might see it all come to an end.” (June 25)

Filthy Rich Fae by Geneva Lee

“Cate Holloway knows the unspoken rule of New Orleans: avoid the powerful Gage crime family at all costs. Of course, that was before her brother got caught in their chaos. Now Cate has no choice but to confront the dark and forbidding prince of New Orleans himself and beg for her brother’s life. But Lachlan Gage is as lethal as he is beautiful… and the only currency he’s interested in is her soul .” (June 25)

Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova

Inspired by Slavak folklore, this tale follows a witch who can solve almost any problem—except avoiding her troublesome ex, the Tsar of Monsters. When she gives up her magic to make a hasty escape, she becomes dangerously ill, and must team up with a detective to regain her powers. (June 25)

Ghost of the Neon God by T.R. Napper

“ In a world of pervasive government surveillance and oppressive corporate control, it’s up to a small-time criminal to keep the spark of human rebellion alive.” (June 25)

Gryphon’s Valor by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon

This novel set within the world of Valdemar returns to the world of gryphons to follow the heroic Kelvren, whose most recent act of bravery might have caused more trouble than it was worth. (June 25)

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

“A chilling horror novel about a haunting, told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls ‘Other Mommy.’”   (June 25)

One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti

This tale described as a “steamy romantasy twist on Beauty and the Beast ” is “the first in a seductive new dark romance series set in an alternate Silicon Valley where information is power, and those who control the flow of information live like gods.” (June 25)

Saints of Storm and Sorrow by Gabriella Buba

“In this fiercely imaginative Filipino-inspired fantasy debut, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people’s struggle against colonization.” (June 25)

Unexploded Remnants by Elaine Gallagher

When the last human alive after an AI takeover discovers an antique sentient computer that controls a deadly weapon, she must convince it to join her cause—while keeping it hidden from even more destructive forces. (June 25)

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

Dolly Dowsie

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home | Book Review & Giveaway ♥

Tyler Lee has gained quite a substantial library of books in his three short years, a necessity really as he's the type of child who won't fall asleep without at least three or four long stories being read to him. After each one has ended and I say "the end", he sleepily mutters the word "more" and I have to carry on with the tales. It's not something that bothers me though, his bedtime stories are about the only pieces of literature I get to read at the moment and I love revisiting the books I loved during my own childhood too - such as last nights offering The Secret Garden .

His little library has recently grown by one more, in the form of the second book from the people behind the ever popular Lost My Name book - which I reviewed here . The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is another personalised offering, which tells the tale of, the case of our book, a boy named Tyler Lee and his robot Hubble, who must find their way home from space, meeting weird and wonderful creatures and experiencing lots of mishaps along the way.

This book is written in rhyme - which is always fun to read, especially at bedtime. The story is quite long, which is great for my boy and he loved hearing his name being repeated throughout the story and featured in the illustrations too. The illustrations are fun and colourful and capture the journey element of the story really well.

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home goes one step further than Lost My Name , as not only does it offer parents the chance to personalise the book with their children's name, but with their address too. Our house is number 13 and this is mentioned in the book and also featured in an illustration too. These personalised touches really do help to make the story even more magical for little ones. The book also lets you choose the appearance of your character, giving three options with different hair colours - we of course had to choose the blonde boy, I only wish this option was available when we got the Lost My Name book too.

The final touch to this book, and one which I think suits the space theme really well, is that the book title on the cover glows in the dark. I thought this was such a fun touch and such a great way to complete a space themed book.

The lovely people at Lostmy.name are giving one lucky blog reader the chance to experience their own incredible intergalactic journey home by winning their very own copy of the book. Entry is super simple with the Gleam app below. Best of luck to everyone who enters.

Terms and conditions:   This giveaway is open worldwide.   This giveaway will run until September 2nd and a winner will then be chosen at random using the Gleam widget. One winner will receive a code to use on the Lostmy.name site, which will enable them to create and personalise their own book. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.   This giveaway will end at 11.59 on September 2nd 2016.

Lovely prize!

Beautiful book I'd love to gift my nephew with

Would love to win this for my nephew.

My daughter Ruby as she already has a lost my name book and loves it and loves anything about space

I would love to win this book for my son, Henry.

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A Journey through Russia: Encounters with People and Places

Jens mühling , eugene h. hayworth  ( translation ).

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Jens Mühling

Ratings & reviews.

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She (a young female border officer) was barely out of earshot when the fellow Russian traveller in my compartment burst into laughter. 'Did you hear that?' He chuckled with delight. 'What?' 'That language! Chuckling, he raised his voice two octaves and imitated the customs officer; ' Dokumenty, bud lasko! ' For a moment he let the soft twitter of the Ukranian sounds reverberate, before he changed back to his native Russian language. 'They speak like children! Ah, these sweet Ukranians!' His fat cheeks quivered with laughter.

Ukraine was never independent - never! The eastern part was always Russian, the west Polish, Lithuanian, Austrian. Now they have their own country and come up with nothing but sheer nonsense: a Ukranian language, a Ukranian history, their own government. Their language is a peasant dialect, their history a fairy tale, their state a circus.' Amused he shook his head, 'It is not really a country at all'.

But they are Ukranian! Ukranian! The European style is just precisely what accounts for our icons! Natalya's voice grew louder, until her rage filled the entire nave. 'Do you know what the Russians call us Ukranians? Little Russians! And yet we are the true Russians! We are the descendants of Kiev Rus! The Muscovites didn't start calling themselves Russians until the 18th century! They are not even rightfully Slavs; the scientists have found their genes are 70 per cent Tatar, Finnish, Estonian..'

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How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells

Nick Fountain

Emma Peaslee

There is a constant arms race between law enforcement and criminals, especially when it comes to technology. For years, law enforcement has been frustrated with encrypted messaging apps, like Signal and Telegram. And law enforcement has been even more frustrated by encrypted phones, specifically designed to thwart authorities from snooping.

But in 2018, in a story that seems like it's straight out of a spy novel, the FBI was approached with an offer: Would they like to get into the encrypted cell phone business? What if they could convince criminals to use their phones to plan and document their crimes — all while the FBI was secretly watching? It could be an unprecedented peek into the criminal underground.

To pull off this massive sting operation, the FBI needed to design a cell phone that criminals wanted to use and adopt. Their mission: to make a tech platform for the criminal underworld. And in many ways, the FBI's journey was filled with all the hallmarks of many Silicon Valley start-ups.

On this show, we talk with journalist Joseph Cox , who wrote a new book about the FBI's cell phone business, called Dark Wire . And we hear from the federal prosecutor who became an unlikely tech company founder.

Episode 418: A Fake Bank For Money Laundering Run By The Government

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney .

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Music: Universal Production Music - "Parisian Spy," "The Danzig Connection," and "Straight Talker"