Help Aliens Stole My Grandad - Hannah Moffatt

Another great, fun story for primary pupils from Hannah. I loved 'Small', so was thrilled to get an early copy of this fun, frantic and funny story, full of space pirates, aliens, cheese and adventure but with messages and themes of friendship and family running alongside.

Read on for a guest post from the author, Hannah

Outer space meets storytelling: capturing the wonder of the universe for young readers.

“Prime Minister, how would ye like to sail to a place in space where no Earthling’s gone before?” she asked, waving her long green arms up at the sky. “How would ye like to see stars galore? How would ye like to join us on Cheddar, Earth’s second moon?” Extract from Help! Aliens Stole My Grandad

I’ve always been mesmerised by images of space, space travel and, of course, aliens. In Help! Aliens Stole My Grandad I wanted my main character Harrison to fulfil a wish I’ve always had, without paying Elon Musk a penny. I wanted him to go to space.

The space ten-year-old Harrison sees (mainly the surface of a very cheesy moon, where the rivers are made of fondue and the mountains are solid gorgonzola) was of course very different to the planets and moons I read about at school. But I hope the feeling of wonder Harrison, and readers of my very draft story get, are the same.

When I was eight, I remember getting my first telescope and being so excited at what I might discover (although, living in a relatively light-polluted London suburb the answer was: not much).

When I was Harrison’s age, I remember reading my copy of Usbourne’s The Discovery of the Universe cover to cover. I was fascinated by the descriptions of what alien life might look like depending on the amount of gravity on the planet. Sadly, alien pirates didn’t feature in the book.

I remember my first trip to Wales at 21, lying on the bonnet of my friend’s car, looking at the endlessly starry sky and feeling my breath vanishing from my chest.

Only this year, I spent a happy afternoon gazing at the ZOO Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition in the Greenwich Maritime Museum. For me, some of the most stunning photos were the ones taken on Earth, of normal houses with the colours of the Northern Lights bursting over them. (You can see the 2025 stunning Aurorae shortlist, here.)Imagine what people living in those areas hundreds of years ago must have thought when they saw the sky light up so incredibly. It feels like the start of a whole new story…

When Help! Aliens Stole My Grandad first went on submission to publishers, lots of them said young readers prefer science fact to science fiction. I get it – there’s so much to read and learn about the universe, and I want to read and learn it all too! Even so, I think there’s room for other ways into those topics. My little lunar adventure story is far from a textbook. But if you want to explore how gravity affects a boy in space without his gravity boots on, or know why you shouldn’t walk the plank towards a black hole – this could be the place to start.*

*And if you’re a teacher thinking of connecting my story to any astronomy lessons you might be planning, I’ve made a full activity pack of comprehension questions, creative writing exercises and science facts you can use.

Help! Aliens Stole My Grandad, written by Hannah Moffatt and illustrated by Rory Walker is out with Everything With Words now.

Look out for other stops on the blogtour:

Thanks as always to Mikka for the blogtour spot and copy of the book, and to Hannah for the great guest post.

Richreadalot June 2026