New Oliver Jeffers book scheduled to come out Oct. 4

A new book by the million-selling children’s author and visual artist Oliver Jeffers is a blend of art and science and adventure

Books Oliver Jeffers (Penguin Young Readers)

A new book by the million-selling children's author and visual artist Oliver Jeffers is a blend of art and science and adventure.

Jeffers' “Meanwhile Back on Earth” will be published Oct. 4, according to Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. The book was inspired by an art installation called “Our Place in Space,” a sculpture trail and scale model of the solar system the Irish author worked on with the astrophysicist Professor Stephen Smartt among others. It opens in the United Kingdom this spring.

In a statement issued Wednesday by his publisher, Jeffers likened the story he is telling to a “long road trip” with bickering children that reminds us “whatever tempers were flared, there’s nothing quite like returning to the safety of home.”

Jeffers' previous books include “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth,” “Stuck,” “Lost and Found” and “What We'll Build: Plans for Our Together Future."