Letters from an Alien Schoolboy

Gr 3–6—Flowkwee and his alien family are trying to blend in. Even though they drink their share of vom to hide their extra heads and tentacles, it doesn't take a genius to see that they are different. Coming from Faa, they are operating under the misconception that it is 1942, that males are superior to females, and that kids are taken to school in strollers. The family is ostensibly on Earth to collect Earthlings to take back to Faa to enslave. However, the terrifying Threggs are coming to invade Earth to exploit its spinach. Flowk soon learns that much of what he was raised to believe is worth questioning. Heavily illustrated and boasting a vocabulary filled with Faa words like "ploogle," "scratchflackets," and "flaarp," this silly adventure, written as a series of letters to Flowkwee's friend, Rokbumme, will have readers looking at everyday activities in new ways. The illustrations are key to the humor, and on several panels Asquith has employed some illusory techniques that necessitate the manipulation of the book. Libraries looking to bolster humor collections may be interested in this British import.—Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City