"Aliens Are Coming!"

If Knopf ever makes a t-shirt of the Aliens Are Coming! cover, I want one. Isn't it great! What kid isn't going to want to open this book? My 7-year-old and I have been reading Aliens many times over; this book is just the ticket for a fun read-aloud. A lot of non-fiction picture books seem to be written for adults for some reason; the humorous Aliens, on the other hand, is tailored to its audience, the 7- to 10-year-old crowd.

The subtitle of Meghan McCarthy's book pretty much sums it up, as subtitles are prone to do: "The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast." Aliens Are Coming! begins with a two-page spread of 1930s radios on one side and, on the other, an announcer at microphone, who says, "Hey, kids! Did you know that in the 1930s most Americans did not own TVs? But you know what they did have? The radio!" McCarthy sets the stage and later incorporates abbreviated portions of Howard Koch's radio play, explaining along the way about the many people who truly believed that Martians were invading.  McCarthy's funny illustrations—of wide-eyed cartoonish people in a panic, drooling aliens on city streets, and long-legged Martian vehicles taking over the country—let the reader in on the goings-on. I plan to take this one to school and read it to a second-grade class. I'll bet it's a crowd-pleaser.

Knopf is in the t-shirt business, right? Sonny, I'll take a medium.

Comments

[Elaine Magliaro]

Susan,

I ordered ALIENS ARE COMING and picked it up the other day. I have absolutely no doubt this book will appeal to kids. I love the look of Meghan's "retro" art in the book--like the front cover and endpapers, too. I think I may get another copy for one of my grand nephews as a birthday present. He's an astronomy buff. He loves nonfiction books and the old Star Trek series, too..

[crissa]

Looks like a doodle by Daniel Johnston...