The boy, the dog, and the rocket to Mars by Johnathan Williams
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Lately one of my lovely school friends posted an incredible achievement by her son. At just 14 years old he had published a book which he had started on at just 10. He had even asked a friend to illustrate it for him.
Blown away by this achievement I asked if I could feature the book on my blog and giveaway a copy to share it with you all as well.
To give you a bit of insight into the process behind the building of this book here’s some information about it:
The boy, the dog, and the rocket to Mars
Johnathan has always struggled with socialising and school life in general and masked how he felt because of being autistic and not wanting to show everyone how much he really struggled.
However, during the 2020 lockdown, he felt free and that he didn’t have to mask and he was so happy. He used this time to do things he loved and making up stories and writing were two of those things (they still are), so he decided to write a book aimed at children. He was 10 years old at the time.
He has made changes and improvements over time to the story and always said he would love to get it published one day, to prove to others he can achieve something even with his struggles and that autistic people can still succeed. (He believes nobody should let anything or anyone stop them from reaching their goals.)
At age 12, he asked his best friend, Beth, if she would illustrate it for him as he thought she was so talented at drawing, and she agreed. They then worked on it together to finish it over the last 2 years.
At 14 years old they achieved it and here it is ready to buy.
Book Overview
A boy and a talking dog accidentally get blasted into space on a rocket and land on Mars where they meet a kind alien. But trouble strikes when the monster alien is awoken and goes after the whole town. It is down to the boy and the dog to save the day, the kind aliens, and the planet, before returning home to Earth to their worried family.
The boy, the dog, and the rocket to Mars by Johnathan Williams is aimed at readers between 0 and 10 however cas been enjoyed by people of all ages and is available to buy now on Amazon where it has an RRP of £9.99 (however at the time of writing is available for £8.86)
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how to kill men and get away with it. quite funny
Mine has been IT by Stephen King! I’ve wanted to read it for so long and I finally found a secondhand copy
The Covenant of Water, a really enjoyable and interesting book
Haven’t finished reading my book but so far so good- the midnight library by Matt haige xx
My nephew would love this book, he loves story time
We had two days of sunshine last month so I sat in the garden and read It Started With Paris by Cathy Kelly – a light hearted holiday book.
I finally got around to reading The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells – simply amazing!
I can’t really say that I have a favourite – although Ken Follett’s book ‘Never’ is certainly thought provoking.
I’m studying at the moment, so have not have the opportunity to read for leisure, so no favourite book as yet, I hope to get some books in at the end of the year.
My favourite read this year has been a reread of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. This time around I’m doing the breathing exercises.
I’m not much of a reader. However my kids who have autism love reading they’ve been reading the rainbow magic books.
I have not managed to have a favourite book this year
What lies between us by John Marrs, it was gripping, finished it in a day!
I loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin as it was so well written, and a really unusual premise!
I’m yet to find my favourite read of the year. Perhaps this book might be it!
The Change book by Kirsten Miller, it covers so many different genres,quite unique, it is a feminist crime thriller with fantasy undertones. Every single woman could relate to the various scenarios that we find ourselves in everyday. When three women reach a ‘certain age’ and go through the change suddenly all the powers of the universe help them correct the wrongs for women.
What an amazing lad. My great grandson has autism so I can empathise with Jonathan. My favourite read this year was Ben Elton’s Two Brothers, an incredible story well written
Johnathon and his family should be very proud of this achievement
Good for him; using his abilities to create something for others to enjoy and including others in the project shows a welcome degree of maturity.