It’s Week Two of National Share-a-Story Month and at Discovery Diaries HQ, we’re celebrating how stories connect people across the globe.

Learning about different cultures, people and places expands our understanding of the world we live in. It also helps us develop empathy. By engaging with diverse stories, we broaden our perspectives and open ourselves up to connecting more deeply with others.

Through story, we can also travel the world without leaving home. We can venture into the Peruvian forest with Maya in Fire Girl, Forest Boy, discover what happens beneath winter snow drifts with Granny Sylvie in Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story and explore the Irish coastline with Emer in On Midnight Beach.

Some special places bring people from different parts of the world together, like the International Space Station. As well as being a giant science laboratory, the ISS is a cultural hub where people from many nations live and work together. Our United in Space activity from the Principia Space Diary is a great way for kids to learn about how different nations collaborate to drive scientific discovery.

To journey to the ISS, astronauts like Tim Peake learn Russian so they can communicate with Mission Control. Find out more about what it’s like to live and work in space, by checking out our video with Helen Sharman, who went to Russia’s Mir Space Station in 1991.

This week for our Share-a-Story Challenge, we invite you to create and share a story based on the theme Peoples of the World. Young space explorers might like to use the ISS as their setting, or they could imagine their way into another country, city or even another community near their home.

For inspiration, check out the National Share-a-Story Month reading list. And don’t forget to share your stories with us by using #discoverydiaries on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We can’t wait to explore our wonderful world with you!

Image by Elena Mozhvilo