Aliens Love Underpants
I just didn't get this book. Maybe because I'm over the age four and just couldn't get past the factor that having others steal your underpants to wear them is more along the lines of creepy and illegal rather than cute.
Claire Freedman's first page packs a wallop when it comes to getting the key story information out there. In the first four line stanza (each spread features four rhyming lines) we discover that not only do aliens love undies, but that there aren't any undies in space. It leaves us with the suspenseful line "So here's a big surprise" as a cue to turn the page and enter the story.
The text is, for the most part, smooth and easy to read aloud. There are some fun lines:
Mum's pink frilly knickers
Are a perfect place to hide
And Grandpa's woolly long johns
Make a super-whizzy slide.
But I didn't really feel the pull to read it again and again. Sorry, aliens. Once was enough.
One thing I do really like about this book is Ben Cort's illustrations. The characters (human and extra-terrestrial) are in cute, active, and expressive poses. The illustrations remind me of Guy Parker-Rees illustrations in the colors used and the "glow" they seem to feature, but Cort's backgrounds are simpler (textured brush-strokes) and the painting rougher and more textured. The aliens themselves remind me a bit of Dr. Suess' creatures. They are cute and a bit kidney-bean or insect like in a fluffy sort of way. One unusual thing Cort did is a vertical spread midway through the book that requires turning the book so it's oriented like a calendar to fully appreciate.
