YouTube video nets new kids’ book for Western Space educator

Astrophysicist Parshati Patel. (Source: Western University)

Exeter, Ont. -

A Western University astrophysicist is now a children's author.

A YouTube video from Parshati Patel caught the eye of publishers from Penguin Random House and has resulted in a newly released book that aims to teach kids about space.

“She [the publisher] was looking for someone who could talk to a young audience and that video resonated with her,” said Patel, who has spent most of the past decade as a space scholar, science communicator and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educator.

According to a release from Western, space has intrigued Patel since she looked through her first telescope as a young girl, so it’s natural that telescopes are among the topics she chose to write about.An excerpt from Parshati Patel's book, 'My Book of Stars and Planets' (Source: Western University)They include the SOFIA telescope, a flying observatory circling the Earth aboard a specially designed Boeing 747.

Other topics include constellations, meteorites and asteroids, space technology, pioneers such as orbit mathematician Katherine Johnson, and answers to questions such as, ‘Why is space black?’

“There are so many cool things about space, so it was sometimes a matter of eliminating the least-cool stuff,” said Patel.

She hopes it will add fuel to the spark of curiosity most children have about space. “This simple book could intrigue and inspire other kids around the world.”