I recently heard from a friend that Stephen Hawking wrote a children’s book. At first I thought maybe its a different Stephen because the Stephen I am familiar of is a well-renowned physicist who has made some controversial claims about the universe particularly about the existence of a divine source. Anyway, my husband and I talked about the possibility of Stephen Hawking as a chidren’s book writer and we concluded that it must be a different Stephen Hawking.

Stephen and Lucy Hawking

The next day my husband sent me a link and apparently we were the ones who were wrong because not only does the “Stephen Hawking” we know an author of a children’s book but he is also the author of a children’s book series.

Special Education Philippines have read the reviews and decided to make a post for it as recommended books for elementary students learning concepts about the universe. Hopefully, Special Education Philippines can also make a review of Stephen Hawking’s children’s books in the future. These children’s books by the way were co-written together with Stephen Hawking’s daughter, Lucy Hawking.  Lucy Hawking is a journalist and novelist.

1. George’s Secret Key to the Universe (2007) by Stephen and Lucy Hawking

George Secret Key Recommended Book Special Education Philippines

Plot:  The main character of the book is George Greenby, who discovers that his next door neighbor is a pleasant scientist named Eric. Together with Eric’s daughter (Annie) and the world’s most powerful computer (Cosmos), they explore the universe. And, of course, there is a villain, who seeks to use science and technology for his own gain.

2.  George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt (2009) by Stephen and Lucy Hawking

George Cosmic Treasure Hunt Book Special Education Philippines

Plot: In this sequel, young George’s neighbors, including his young friend Annie Bellis, move away from England to the United States. Annie’s father, Eric, has been hired to work for the Global Space Agency on searching the universe for life.

When George receives an urgent message from Annie that she needs help, he convinces his parents to let him travel to Florida to visit them. It turns out that Annie believes she has received a coded message from outer space and together with George, and the brilliant (if socially inept) young boy Emmett, they seek out to restore the broken computer Cosmos that can take them into outer space to discover the secret behind the message. Unfortunately, Eric doesn’t believe the message is real nor that Cosmos can be repaired, so they have to do it in secret.

3. George and the Big Bang (2011) by Stephen and Lucy Hawking

George Big Bang Book Special Education Philippines

Plot: After coming back to the United Kingdom, George and Annie are trying to find the best place in the Universe for Freddy the pig to live. They find somewhere and Eric opens Cosmos’ portal and takes Freddy to an unknown place. The next day George starts at the local high school.  He goes round to find Eric to ask him where he put Freddy. George finds that Cosmos’ portal is open a wonders out on to the Moon to find Eric. Just before they leave, a Chinese satellite photographs them and no one has supposedly step on the moon since 1972.

Source: Wikipedia, About.com, Google and Yahoo Images