The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield, Illustrated by The Fan Brothers

You may recognize The Fan Brothers from their debut picture book, The Night Gardener, which was published in February of this year. Here, they illustrate the story of astronaut Chris Hadfield as a young boy. When Hadfield was a young child, all he wanted to be was an astronaut.

“When it was time to take a bath, he told his mother, “I’d love to, but I’m saving the planet from aliens.”

The Fan Brothers illustrate a young Hadfield with an adorable pug dog named Albert as they use their imagination to fight aliens and fly to Mars in a bathtub. But have you ever heard of an astronaut afraid of the dark? As a young child dreaming of becoming an astronaut, Hadfield was afraid of the dark.

It seemed like his dream was going to be impossible. In the summer of 1969, a young Hadfield eagerly awaited a very special event. The neighbors all gathered around the television to watch the moon landing of Apollo 11. As the astronauts jumped up and down for joy on the small tv screen, Chris noticed something.

“He’d never really noticed how dark it was there. Outer space was the darkest dark ever.”

Watching the moon landing changed his world. “He wanted to explore every corner of the night sky.” The budding astronaut was no longer scared of the dark, and he was ready to chase his dreams.

Chris Hadfield writes in the afterwards, "The dark is for dreams—and morning is for making them come true." 

This book is a gorgeous exploration of conquering fears, dreaming dreams, and making those dreams come true.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield