Cosmic Creatures: The Helpful Hootpuff

The Helpful Hootpuff is another animal rescue story from the Cosmic Creatures series by Tom Huddleston. I have been lucky enough to have read this series not only for myself but also to my class, who love anything to do with space, other planets and animals.

The story of the Helpful Hootpuff explores the issue of endangered animals and looking after habitats and what we, as humans, can do to help and save them. The story is set on the planet Vela, where Charlie, her family and a lucky few humans have been sent to look after and live on the planet. Charlie's mother, Shona, is an engineer and builds robots and helps find solutions on the planet to help people live. The problem the humans are facing is the lack of energy and electricity. When a possible solution is found but goes wrong, the Hootpuff is found and saved as well as an entire ecosystem.

I have really enjoyed this series due to each book tackling a different issue and each book having a moral or lesson to be learnt. Not only do the stories' events tackle the environment and looking after animals but the characters themselves also learn something. Charlie's brother explores and deals with fears and Charlie herself, having to problem solve and be a big sister. These are also big questions that we have talked about in the classroom and can use the text to support learning.

This is a short fiction story from the Cosmic Creatures series. I look forward to seeing where the next book takes us and which animal Charlie and her family discover next!

112 pages / Reviewed by Lauren Maidman, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+