The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JUL 4, 2011

This boisterous galactic retelling of "The Three Little Pigs" pits resourceful pea-green alien children against a skyscraper-size robot. Siblings Bork, Gork, and Nklxwcyz live with their mother "in a snug, cozy crater on a tiny little planet." When their home " too crowded," the kids head into the solar system to seek new abodes. Two-eyed sister Bork finds an unmanned rover on a red planet ("Awesome!"). Her one-eyed brother Gork boards a satellite spinning around a ringed planet ("Whee!"). Three-eyed Nklxwcyz prefers a planet with "thirteen moons, and refreshing breezes." Soon the Big Bad Robot chases Bork to Gork's home; recalling their mother's advice to "stick together," they fly to Nklxwcyz's brick house. Fearing's (The Book That Eats People) collages lend a down-to-earth feel to the interplanetary action. McNamara (How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?) is faithful to the original story, down to the climactic chimney, but has bountiful fun along the way (" Little alien! Little alien!' bleeped the Robot. Pull over! Pull over!' "). This is no astronomy class, but readers can guess the unnamed planets by description, and they'll have fun pronouncing Nklxwcyz. Ages 4 8.