What to Read After... Cosmic by Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Published on: 07 April 2022

If your children have loved Frank Cottrell-Boyce's brilliant book Cosmic, we've got more suggestions of stories they might like...

Pic: Steven Lenton

Frank Cottrell-Boyce's fabulous novel Cosmic - about a super-sized 11-year-old who gets the opportunity to go to space - was first published in 2008 but is still as popular with children today!

If you know children who have loved this hilarious tale, check out our recommendations about What to Read After...

For other books for 9-12s with a space theme

Christopher Edge's Space Oddity, illustrated by Ben Mantle, builds a hilarious story about farting aliens and UFOs around the warm, touching theme of a father's unconditional love for his son.

Meanwhile, in Ross Welford's The Kid Who Came From Space, Tammy has been abducted and taken to an alien planet, where she will be exhibited at the human zoo. Alien Hellyann feels uncomfortable about this forced imprisonment and wants to return the girl to Earth, prompting an intergalactic adventure. 

And in Orion Lost by Alastair Chisholm, 13-year-old Beth becomes captain of a large spacecraft, transporting people from Earth to a new planet amid perilous conditions.

Pic: Tom Clohosy Cole

If your child loves funny books

What could be better than Frank's other marvellously touching and hilarious books Runaway Robot, The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Noah's Gold and many more?

Or what about Sam Copeland's Greta and the Ghost Hunters, illustrated by Sarah Horne, in which Greta realises that her house is haunted, and sets about trying to convince Mum and Dad that the spirits are real?

Alternatively, in Jenny Pearson's The Incredible Record Smashers, Lucy becomes convinced that a TV show host can help her mum's depression, if only she can break a world record and get him to come over for tea to present her certificate.

For children who enjoy novels with gaming themes

Try Outcasts: The Game by David Grimstone, in which an RPG gets out of hand; in Chris Bradford's Gamer, Scott struggles to survive on the streets of a post-apocalyptic world, and his only way out is to get into a Virtual Kombat gaming tournament. Elsewhere, in Jamie Russell's action-packed Skywake: Invasion, SkyWake is the gaming phenomenon of the year and centres around an epic war between two alien forces.

For something with more humour, Sam Copeland's brilliant Uma and the Answer to Absolutely Everything, illustrated by Sarah Horne, is a story about how Uma, whose mum has recently passed away, finds an AI earpiece that enables her to know... absolutely everything.

Your recommendations

Which stories would you recommend to fans of Cosmic? We'd love to hear your suggestions, so get in touch with us on Twitter using the hashtag #WhatToReadAfter...