Strange Planet
The Sneaking, Hiding, Vibrating Creature
by Nathan W. Pyle
Harper, 2021. 40 pages.
Review written July 28, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review
Nathan Pyle has written a picture book for young earth beings!
To be honest, I’m not sure if very young earth beings will understand the humor, but I’m sure that their lifegivers will.
The idea behind Strange Planet is that alien beings do things that humans do, but describe them in practical, literal terms. So I’m not sure if very young beings will appreciate that this is not the way earthlings normally talk, and they may not understand some of the words used, since they’re often a little more complex. There is a simple picture glossary in the back to help.
In this book, a young being wakes on his rest slab, and they and their lifegiver decide to spend the day observing the creature prowling around their home. It is covered in thousands of soft fibers and its mouthstones are sharp. They will record their observations and see if it is possible to do the behaviors themselves.
Here’s an example spread:
Then the creature starts to climb the group-soft-seat with its deathblades!
Scritch, scratch! We hear the blades.
We try to do that, but we do not have deathblades!
There are fun little surprises, such as when they realize that they can imitate the creature when it spends its time observing another creature (a bird).
Of course, you won’t want your own offspring to imitate the creature when it knocks a hydration cylinder off a table for no reason. But it will be fun to watch your offspring try to lick all of their limbs, as the creature does.
But good picture books end with someone sleeping, and that’s an activity that all creatures can do!
It might take kids a few times through, but I completely enjoyed this book right from the start. This isn’t really a storytime book, but it is a great book for creating in-jokes with your own child. (I’m laughing at the thought of if this had existed when my kids were small. They already used big words from lots of reading.)
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