'Space Oddity' reimagined as children's book

David Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity", which sees fictional astronaut Major Tom drifting into outer space, has been turned into an unlikely children's book by a Canadian illustrator.

Andrew Kolb, from southern Ontario, has created an illustrated version of Bowie's classic track. "It was an entirely personal project," he said. "The song always played out like a picture book in my head anyway, so I wanted to see if I could make it work. It was for entirely selfish reasons."

Mr Kolb said the book had a purposefully ambiguous ending, not revealing whether Major Tom chose to leave Earth behind or was cut loose by an asteroid storm. As Tom drifts into space, the song ends with the lyrics: "Planet Earth is blue... and there's nothing I can do."

The book is available for download via Mr Kolb's website, with the illustrator in discussions with HarperCollins for a print run.