From the classroom to the softball field and now to outer space, business teacher and head softball coach Andrea Mondadori Llauget is blasting off into the children’s book world with the release of her first book, “Cosmic Cousins Visit Jupiter.” This exciting series provides children ages three to twelve, along with their parents, an opportunity to learn about space through popular games while building the child’s imagination and strengthening parent-child relationships. With the help of her son, Colt, his yearning for a bigger imagination, and the Melissa & Doug cardboard rocket ship in their toy room, this series came to life. 

When quarantine hit last March and Colt was not attending in-person school, Mondadori Llauget noticed that her son had a really good memory, but not as strong of an imagination. She would lay in bed with him each night while they read books and came up with their own stories. He was very interested in the solar system, so they took the Melissa & Doug rocket ship to the toy room and “went” to a planet, Jupiter being the first stop. Through this nightly storytelling, Mondadori Llauget found a way to develop her son’s imagination by taking something that he already knew and allowing his imagination to drive each idea. As these stories helped her son’s imagination, helped her learn more about space and provided them with quality time, she realized that she could do this for other families too. 

“Building that relationship between parents and kids is important for parents to enrich the learning environment at home,” Mondadori Llauget said. “It gives parents some hope that you can take something fun and make it educational. I want the parent to be able to say, ‘Wow! I actually learned something,’ and ignite their knowledge of space. I really want the kids to learn something, too.” 

The series consists of four cousins Kayla, Colt, Nathan and Jake who are visiting the eight planets of the solar system. The first of them being Jupiter. The cousins play hide and seek on the planet while Nathan hides in Jupiter’s big red dot. This concept bridges the gap between a universal game many children like and information that is relevant for children worldwide; this is what makes the series so unique. 

“It’s educational and it’s global. Everyone in the entire world can enjoy it, not just [those in] a certain geographic region. I [also] hope it makes us appreciate that there is something bigger than us and [shows us that we need] to take care of our planet. I feel like that is why I’m so drawn to planets and solar systems.” 

With Colt’s imagination guiding the original story, Mondadori Llauget’s book fills these adventures with games and educational facts that make this book entertaining and educational for children and parents. It provides them with a plethora of new scientific knowledge and an opportunity to better their imaginations and reading skills.

The future for the “Cosmic Cousins” series shines brighter than the sun. With the support of the community and the popularity among the elementary students, the book has been flying off the shelves. Luckily, she has many more adventures for these cousins to tell. Make sure to go check out the first of many from the “Cosmic Cousins” series, which is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Target and also to follow them on Instagram @CosmicCousinsBooks.