Follow legendary journeys on land and far into space in two brilliant new QED Non-Fiction titles

Space...the final frontier! We love delving into any new books that deal with space travel and exploration, and we're always looking for a new wrinkle on non-fiction titles that offer tons of brilliant details and facts.

QED Publishing has a brilliant new range of books that examine in fine detail the many ways we've devised to get around our planet - and off it too!

In the first title, "Legendary Journeys: Space" by Dr Mike Goldsmith and Sebastian Quigley we take a look at the history of space travel, right back as far as the first time humans looked up at the stars and asked themselves "What if we could go THERE!"

Though space history has been fantastically well documented in a whole range of children's titles, this is a really fabulous addition to their numbers, thanks to some innovative uses of flaps (YAY! Lift the flaps for OLDER kids really does work as a book mechanic, we've been saying so for ever!) and also some truly stunning pull-out pages, that really allow you to gauge the sheer scale of some of the rockets we've launched into space.

For example, the mighty Saturn V, the pinnacle of NASA's technology during the space race in the 1960s and 1970s, unfolds to show you all the various stages of the rocket. It's a majestic sight!

"Legendary Journeys: Space" by Dr Mike Goldsmith and Sebastian Quigley is out now, published by QED Publishing. 

Of course we're not just rocketing off into the inky blackness, how about something for those of you who prefer your transport a bit more down to earth?

"Legendary Journeys: Trains" by Philip Steele and Sebastian Quigley offers just as much detail as the space-going book, this time showing the history of the locomotive - from the very first chuffings of Stephenson's Rocket, forward in time to the mighty bullet train that can propel folk around Japan at speeds of up to 280 KM/H.

Again, the book features lots of flaps to lift and those same brilliant giant-sized pull out pages so you can see the WHOLE train, not just the engine!

It's a fabulous idea, and this book is so packed with intricate detail that any rail enthusiast should definitely add it to their collections.

I think the only minus point we found with both titles was that the pull-out pages take some care in handling, so these books wouldn't be suitable for younger age groups but 7 years up should be fine, and once you work out why the pages get a bit 'stuck' sometimes, you'll know to take a bit more care with them.

Both books are brilliantly written and gorgeously illustrated, and definitely show that there's plenty of scope for children's non-fiction titles to push the envelope just that little bit further to offer up books that really bring their subjects to life.

"Legendary Journeys: Trains" by Philip Steele and Sebastian Quigley is out now, published by QED Publishing. 

(Both books kindly supplied for review).