Nerds vs Aliens by Barry Jonsberg

"Breaking news: it's a book and you're reading it! Good onya. Beats scrolling through your pone and it probably thrills your parents. I have no idea who you are, but I can guess. ... 

(anyway) if you keep reading you'll get to know heaps about me ... "

Even though I am not (impressive term coming up) an omniscient narrator.

The aliens have an important reason for visiting earth. They have noticed the way humans are treating the planet. Who will they tell? Will anyone listen? Is the end of the world coming? How can three nerds possibly help?

This is a story told in two halves. Part One is entitled Broccoli and Part Two is Chocolate mud cake with a possible dollop of icecream.  I was certain for about half the book that all this talk of aliens was just someone playing a trick on Mo because the answer to my first question posed here about communication - well, the answer is via fridge magnets! Yes you did read that correctly - fridge magnets. Mo finds messages on his fridge and he is sure the messages are from aliens who are coming to our earth. I need to say our earth because these aliens also use the term earth when referring to their own home planet - confusing yes.

Mo has a date for the arrival of the aliens and we know this right from the first page so you and your young reading companion, or class or you as a reader of course, are sure to anticipate that this book will follow a countdown. 

"The World will end at ten thirty-six in the morning, on the fourteenth of March this year."

Mo just has to convince his friends Aitch (Harrison Harrison - yes it is a great name) and Ally (do NOT call her Alison. She is a book worm and can be quite touchy) that the aliens are really coming and that they, three kids from Earth are the ones the aliens want to talk to - yes that is wild. (and I have put a hint about why they want to come in the labels for this post).

Ally explains this to Aitch: "Mo believes aliens are on their way ... You think he's crazy and make fun of him, even though this is stuff he obviously understands. It's like an obsession with him. You know nothing about the subject and he's an expert, so how about you get excited for him, rather than making him feel small"

Interspersed through this book are asides and commentary from Aitch himself - these are so funny. That is why I added the label to this post "Breaking the Fourth Wall".

Here is an example:

"I said I'd done some research on how to write a book? Well, it seems a story about aliens might be fun for kids, but a book about being supportive of your mates will definitely thrill teachers and librarians. It's not just similes and metaphors that rock their boats, but also uplifting stories about being nice to each other. So I reckon I've got a couple of bases covered here. Entertaining with a moral. Buy lots of class sets. Just a suggestion."

I think this book could one to read aloud to your Grade 4 or 5 class, but I do need to give a small content warning - there are a few mild swear words so I strongly recommend reading this book yourself first - it won't take long. I read the whole book in just over an hour one afternoon a few weeks ago. Here are a few examples in case you think I am 'making this up'. "rat's bumhole"; "bugger all"; "scare the hell out of you"; and "damn". 

I am not sure if this is important, but the aliens have been studying us using the television show Home and Away. I think kids in Australia will know about this and also kids in the UK but I am not so sure about kids in the US - perhaps that isn't important - this is my attempt at an aside similar to the ones Aitch uses when he is telling this story. Oh and the aliens are big fans of Taylor Swift too! And they know about Bluey and KMart.

More plot details here What Book Next? Listen to Barry Jonsberg reading the first chapter of his book with the Your Kids Next Read team. 

A wild ride that's full of laughs ... Readings Melbourne

Aimed at middle-grade readers, Nerds vs Aliens delights in Pop culture references like Bluey and Kmart, adding to its Aussie appeal without the cringe. Although there is some crude toilet humour that might leave some parents squirming. Despite all the quirky comedic relief, Nerds vs Aliens delves into more serious themes surrounding our planet and its treatment, and the effect on future generations. Jonsberg’s is conscious of being didactic and instead applies a clever and thoughtful response to these matters, resolving with an empowering message and wholesome twist. Story Links

Thanks to Gleebooks kids for sharing the advance copy of Nerds vs Aliens which was published on 31st March 2026. 

The cheeky tone and Science Fiction themes and laugh out loud moments of Nerds vs Aliens made me think of this book which sadly is long out of print (note to any publisher reading this please bring this book back for kids to read today - it is so fantastic);

Halfway across the Galaxy and Turn Left

And this one (for younger readers);

And this one:

The World ends in April

I previously talked about these books by Barry Jonsberg:

Catch me if I fall

The dog that dumped on my doona

My life as an alphabet

Running in Circles by Shivaun Plozza

Dell (Adelaide) lives with her dad and three sisters. Mum left the family when Dell was only seven to follow her dream of finding evidence and perhaps even meeting aliens. Initially mum did contact the family but for many years they have not heard from her. Dell resents the way her birthday cards, if they were even sent, arrived well after the event and she is confused and furious as to why mum left them in the first place. None of this is fair to her dad or her sisters. Then mum arrives back in town. It is Dell who first sees her and her instinct is to protect the family from any further hurt and disappointment. The two youngest children, Prim and Una, don't have any memory of their mother - they were so young when she left. Summer, Dell's older sister does remember, and Dell is sure she won't want to revisit the hurt and disappointment that will to come when her mother breezes out of town again.

Slowly Dell watches with deep concern and even anger as each member of her family seems to fall under mum's spell. Mum is sure this new crop circle in Tully means friendly aliens want to help our planet with our climate crisis. Dell is a budding meteorologist so she knows this is all nonsense but then dad says the whole family needs to go to the crop circle at midnight on 7th June because that is when the aliens will arrive. 

Here are a few text quotes:

"I turn away and walk the circle myself. It's messy. It's not sugar cane this time, just long grass that's all squished and tangled like bed hair. ... I crouch, searching for signs the grass was flattened with a plank. Nothing. ... Just rain and grass and mud and footprints." pg 117

"Why is she here? In our house? The one she left? My heart constricts. What if she stays. If she apologises and becomes our mum again and loves dad and never leaves. Is that okay?" pg 161

"You should all read Quentin's book. He argues that every time they visit, it's been to heal our mistakes through the key lines. Humans cause so much damage. We're really the worst disease this planet has every known. She we think they'll finally speak with us directly, to teach us their ways and share their technology." pg 165

Fun fact - before you read this book (or after) you will discover that in 1966 a crop circle did appear near Tully. Read more here. And here is a detailed ABC News page with more information. 

Readers in Australia who do not live in Queensland may need a map to locate Tully and perhaps do some further reading about their record rainfall. And they really do have a big gumboot in the town. Also, the research topic that Dell and her friend Teddy have chosen about The Alligators Nest is a real place (even though there are no alligators in Australia).

Located in the Tully Gorge National Park 6 km north of Tully via Murray Street, this is a rainforest park which was originally popularised by a group of local scouts who gave it the name (there are no alligators in Australia). It is a day use picnic area fringed by rainforest which has lilies, palms, fern-leafed tamarinds and water ferns. Part of the appeal of the area is that the rainforest is home to eastern water dragons, nursery frogs and chameleon geckos.

The chapter titles in this book work as a countdown to the final showdown when the aliens are due to arrive on the 7th June. 

I had a small but good collection of books about aliens, UFOs, and occurrences like crop circles in my former school library. I was always fascinated by the books about The Nazca Lines for example. If you are visiting a library take a look at Dewey [001.9; 001.94 or 001.95].

Publisher blurb: When crop circles appear in Tully, North Queensland, twelve-year-old Dell knows it’s a hoax. She’s a future climate scientist who believes in facts, not science fiction. But Dell’s estranged mum is an extraterrestrial fanatic. She blusters back into town armed with alien conspiracy theories and a dazzling smile. If Dell can prove the crop circle is fake, surely her mum will hightail it out of Tully again, preferably before she causes Dell’s dad and three sisters further heartbreak. But as her mother’s claims grow more out of this world and alien fever takes over the country, Dell worries she’s fighting a losing battle. How can she convince anyone of the truth when they’re all so desperate to believe a lie?

One of the aspects of this story that I wrongly anticipated was the way Quentin Higgs, the pseudo-scientist working with Dell's mum, was sure to be exposed as a fraud and I expected to discover his main motivation was to sell his book but that didn't seem to eventuate. This could be a good discussion point with your class. 

Here are some things I discovered about crop circles (source - note this contains a lot of advertising):

From the 1960s to the 1980s, perhaps no term was more commonly associated with UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation than “crop circles.” As the name suggests, crop circles are massive, circular areas of flattened crops — usually wheat or corn — or other plants, which depict seemingly intentional shapes and other images when seen from above. (in the case of Running in Circles it is a sugar cane farm).

Crop circles amazed many people due to the large size of the indentations and the images they depicted. It’s little wonder why they led to speculation about alien craft landing on Earth. After all, some indentations appeared to mark where “saucers” had once rested. And others seemed to be messages from extraterrestrial beings ...

Two Englishmen proved that it didn’t take an advanced civilization or technology beyond humanity’s comprehension to create crop circles. In fact, all it required was a bit of liquid courage, heavy planks of wood, and some rope. Despite this, some ufologists insist that at least some crop circles were made by “nonhuman” beings.

In 1966, an Australian banana farmer named George Pedley allegedly witnessed something bizarre on his property near Tully. Pedley claimed to have seen a "flying saucer" lifting off — leaving behind a large, circular area of flattened plants in the exact same spot where the UFO had landed. Dubbed a "saucer nest," Pedley's crop circle was not an isolated incident. All around the Tully region, locals began reporting more saucer nest sightings

Readers aged 10+ will enjoy the intriguing story and family relationships found in Running in Circles with the advice do not skip to the end. You are sure to be on Dell's side hoping the truth will be revealed. It is rare to read a book for this age group where the mother is so awful - she left the family when the children were very young because she is obsessed with her belief in aliens. She even seems to bribe the kids with cafe treats and a 'pretend' interest in their lives and she keeps making promises that she has no intention of fulfilling - her betrayal of Summer is dreadful. On the upside Dels' grandmother, who is called Mo-Mo, is a wonderful support to Dell when everything seems to be crashing down around her. 

Thank you to Gleebooks kids for sharing their advance reader copy of Running in Circle and to UQP for the actual copy. Running in Circles will be released next week - 28th April 2026. You can read an extract here. 

Shivaun Plozza has a 2026 Older Readers Notable title: The Worst Perfect Moment. Read the Kirkus Star review. I am going to keep my eye out for another of her books from 2020 - The Boy, The Wolf and the Stars. 

Here are some other books I have talked about by Shivaun Plozza:

Meet me at the Moon Tree

Summer of the Shipwrecks

Further reading and other books to explore:

Non Fiction fans should look for this terrific series

The Touchstone by Andrew Norriss

Opening sentence: One morning, as Douglas was leaving for school, he heard a voice calling his name. It was a faint voice, hardly louder than the wind blowing through the trees, but when he looked round to see who was calling, there was nobody there. He was wondering if he might have imagined it, when the voice called again.

The voice is a woman named Kai and she explains:

​‘I do not have much time, so you must listen carefully. Three things.’ She spoke in short bursts, breathing through clenched teeth between each of them. ‘One, my name is Kai and I come from another planet. Two, my mission is to take this...’ she gestured to the case in her lap, ‘...back to my home world and liberate people my people. Three, I am being hunted by the Guardians of the Federation and my only chance of escape is to find someone to hide me for the next forty-eight hours.’ She looked up at Douglas, her dark eyes staring intently into his. ‘Gedrus says you are the only coda I can reach. Will you help me? Please?’

Things to notice - Kai is from another planet. She is hurt and needs help. There is sure to be some danger ahead for Douglas even if we have, at this stage, no idea about the Guardians of the Federation. Also who is Gedrus? More in a minute ...

First you need to know Kai has a box and a mysterious green stone necklace. We later find the box contains more of these stones and that the holder of the stone can contact the librarian named Gedrus. He can answer any question - yes read that again ANY question. Think of the possibilities here - help in a test; help with homework; and what about his mum and dad - Douglas would love some help to bring them back together. BUT of course we know the old adage "be careful what you wish for". 

‘You might like to think of me,’ Gedrus leant forward with his elbows on the desk, ‘as the sort of access point to an encyclopaedia.’ He gestured to the rows of books behind him. ‘A very large encyclopaedia, that contains information about events and people from all corners of the galaxy. Anything you want to know, you hold the stone, ask me, and I give you the answer.’

The complex part of this story comes when we make a discovery about Kai - is she really trying to save her planet? Is she really telling the truth? And what about Gedrus - does he have a motive for giving the answers he supplies and then another character arrives - and he is a Guardian - his name is Quomp.

Back to that first quote. Douglas is a coda:

The C means that you are the sort of person who can absorb new and disturbing information without too much emotion – in other words you don’t panic. The O means you’re someone who likes his privacy, so you’re the sort of person who can keep a secret. The D means you’re honest and dependable, and the A means you have a very trusting personality and you tend to believe what someone tells you as long as it doesn’t contradict common sense or something you already know.’

Along the way, in this crazy tale, Douglas does find a terrific new friend - Ivo. Ivo is crazy about robots and rockets and now there is a way for Douglas to help his new friend because of Gedrus. Douglas will also need money - older readers aged 10+ and adults are sure to find the way Douglas manipulates the stock market rather thrilling. 

Blurb from author webpage: The Touchstone is a pretty remarkable object. You hold it in your hand, ask a question and it gives you the answer. You just have to be a bit careful what you ask... This is the story of how one of the most valuable objects in the galaxy falls into the hands of a very ordinary English schoolboy, Douglas Paterson, and what he decides to do with it. Like so many things that are supposed to make life easier, this one starts off by making everything very difficult! Shortlisted for the Sheffield Children's Book Award, the Solihull Children's Book Award, the West Sussex Children's book Award.

I met a wonderful young reader last Christmas and when she discovered I was a fellow book lover she enthusiastically shared her favourite book which was read to her class in Grade 2 or 3. She explained that in every bookshop she visited with her parents she always asked if they had this special book but so far no one could help her.

Naturally I went back to my motel and Googled the book using the information she had shared and I easily found this book was The Touchstone by Andrew Norris (2021). Sadly it is now out of print but there are copies available from online sellers and also there is an eBook version which is the one I just read.

In books for young children characters rarely if ever die - of course Charlotte's Web and Bridge to Terabithia are two exceptions but I would say they better suit an older child. I am explaining this because my young reading friend told me (huge spoiler alert) that the main character, a boy named Douglas, dies in the story! NO I could not believe that this would happen in a book shared by a class teacher with children aged 7 or 8. Please, please do not worry though - this book does have a happy ending. 

I do still wonder why the teacher selected this book for her class. I think it would better suit readers aged 10+ but perhaps she (unfortunately in my view) wanted to use some existing teaching resources from one of the many commercial online companies.  In any case this book really resonated with the little girl I met. You can see more books by Andrew Norriss here. I read Mike many years ago and Ctrl-Z looks very familiar - we must have had this one in my former school library.

Companion book - this has just been published and I will talk about it in detail in a few days:

Bookseller blurb: 'The world will end at ten thirty-six in the morning, on the fourteenth of March this year.' This is the message aliens send to ten-year-old nerds Harrison (Aitch), Ally and Mo. How do they send it? Via the magnetic letters on Mo's fridge, of course. Aitch and Ally aren't sure what to believe, but soon they're in an alien spaceship travelling at lightspeed to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Mo is worried his mum will be furious that he boarded an alien craft with strangers. And Aitch is not too happy that they've kidnapped his dog. But maybe the aliens aren't that scary after all? They say they want to save the planet. It's only humans they're not so impressed by... The future of the human race might just be in the hands of three nerds and their lazy dog. What could go wrong?

Other books to look for in your library:

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

The Book of Wondrous Possibilities

The Library of ever

The Experiment by Rebecca Stead

The Experiment is a thrilling suspenseful dramatic exploration of friendship, family 

and what it means to be human. It’s dynamite! Story Links

Compelling and page-turning. Kirkus

Nathan and his parents know they are actually aliens living on Earth as a part of an experiment (yes that is the title). Nathan lives in New York and to some extent he lives like a normal kid - going to school, using his phone to talk to his friend, enjoying sleepovers, and reading his favourite comic - Calvin and Hobbes. But early on in the story a few things seem strange. He has to brush his teeth five times a day including at school with a special pink paste, his mother documents all his food and Nathan himself is weighed and measured regularly. Nathan also has some friends who live in different parts of America - Izzy (Isabel) from Illinois; Nina from New Mexico; Annie from Alabama; Leo from Louisiana; and Miriam from Missouri. Are you noticing a pattern here? And then we read that some kids have disappeared. 

The action moves with a swift pace as we watch a count down at the start of each section - Lift off minus eight days; Lift off minus seven days; Lift off minus six days; Lift off minus ten hours; Lift off minus ten minutes; Fate and Happiness. You should also stop and notice the chapter headings.

There is a moment in this book on page 255 where I found myself screaming at Rebecca Stead. I was sure Nathan was either going to die or be whisked off to Kast. I read The Experiment late into the night and again around 3am and then this morning I finished it off. This is a long book (207 pages of smallish print) but readers aged 9+ with reading stamina are sure to find themselves quickly hooked into the story. 

I want to mention a couple of things that I loved and that are quite different in this story - Nathan does not hide things from his parents - as a group they feel like a team and all of them want to discover the truth about The Kast and Hester and also find out why Nathan now has a tail (he names her Tuck) - you can see this on the cover. The other aspect of this story that was very different from other books about power and control came at the end (spoiler alert) when Hester is taken away on the spaceship and not punished and it seems she might have some sort of odd, but nevertheless happy, ending. 

Publisher blurb: Nathan never understood what was ‘fun’ about secrets, probably because he’s always had to keep a very big one, even from his best friend, Victor. Although he appears to be a typical grade-six kid, Nathan learned at an early age that his family is from another planet, and he’s part of an experiment to work out how to behave like a human and blend in. But the experiment suddenly seems to be going wrong. Some of the other experimenters, including Nathan’s first crush, Izzy, are disappearing without a word. After his family is called back to the mothership, Nathan begins to question everything he’s been taught to believe about who he is and why he’s on Earth. Can he, Victor and Izzy uncover the truth? The Experiment is a fast-paced adventure—with aliens—that asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, whether it’s ever too late to change, and the importance of friendship.

Betsy Bird has penned a very detailed review of The Experiment (but be warned it is filled with spoilers). She links this book with Charlotte's Web, and like my experience of reading this book, that idea has also blown my mind! Betsy recommends reading her review AFTER reading The Experiment - and I whole heartly agree. Also DO NOT SKIP to the end of The Experiment - please let the story unfold and know you can trust Rebecca Stead that there will be answers to all of your (and Nathan's) questions.

Strong character development, like the complicated backstory of a villain, brings further depth, as do the believably strong relationships, including Nathan’s unbreakable friendship with Victor. Stead’s creativity shines here, from Nathan’s unusual tail to later plot twists and turns (not to mention the tattletale, alien-enhanced cat). Anyone who enjoys Stead’s writing, along with sci-fi lovers and even superhero fans will easily devour this latest offering, staying up late under the covers with flashlight in hand to read just one more chapter. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

In this video Rebecca Stead talks about her books including The Experiment and Rebecca is interviewed by Betsy Bird. Here is the Reading Time review (but I disagree with the idea that this is 'tongue in cheek') Here is the review from Ms Yingling.

A few years ago I penned a post about Science Fiction books for young readers. For myself I well remember reading Trillions by Nicholas Fisk and The World Eater by Robert Swindells and having my mind blown because that's what Science Fiction can do - and now that has happened again with The Experiment - my mind is officially blown again. But by far the best books to compare with The Experiment are Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left by Robin Klein and Edsel Grizzler and the Voyage to Verdana by James Roy. Sorry, these are both old books now so you will have to hunt in a library.

Halfway across the Galaxy and Turn Left

Edsel Grizzler and the Voyage to Verdada

Here are the teachers notes

Galax Arena by Gillian Rubinstein (1992) is a far more sinister story but it is also a book that I thought of after reading The Experiment. 

Read a detailed description of the plot here

And try to find these too:

The Last Cuentista

The Raven's Song

You might also look for this book:

The Future Trap

I think parts of The Experiment will also linger with me because earlier this week I re-read The Giver by Lois Lowry which, as you probably know, also talks about control and manipulation. 

Here are other books I have read and enjoyed by Rebecca Stead:

When you reach me

The list of things that will not change

Liar and Spy Five posts

Bob

The Lost Library

Freddie Spector Fact Collector: Space Cadet by Ashleigh Barton illustrated by Peter Cheong

Freddie has a new obsession - space. He collects every fact he can, and he shares these on post-it notes all around his house. If you met Freddie you could ask him any question about space and he is sure to know the answer. Actually, questions are one theme in this book because five lucky students from Freddie's school have been selected to ask one question each of Astronaut Lilly Jun who is on the International Space Station. She will talk to the students via a video call. Freddie really wants to ask a great question - not something silly. I won't spoil the question he does ask but it is brilliant! You do need to read the whole book which is just over 100 pages, however, before this is revealed. 

The other thread in this book, one that keeps the plot moving, is the mystery next door. Freddie is woken by a noise in the night. He looks into the neighbor's backyard and he is shocked to see a huge hole. Freddie is certain a UFO has arrived and that means an alien is now inside the neighbours home. All of this is confirmed when the neighbour almost slams the door in Freddie and his sister's faces and later when Freddie sees a strange red light in the upstairs rooms of their house. There is also the mystery of green slime on the path leading into school. Did the aliens leave this here?

I did not expect to enjoy Freddie Spector Fact Collector as much as I did. This book is the first in a new series and it is one your readers in grades 2 and up are sure to enjoy. The scattering of illustrations by Peter Cheong are also sure to appeal to newly confident readers and they will enjoy the pages filled with Freddie's sticky notes. I did learn a few interesting things about space myself after reading these.  

• Astronauts on the Internationa Space Station see sixteen sunsets and sunrises over earth every day.
• Halley's comet will return in 2061.
• Black holes don't last forever - they slowly evaporate.
• Mercury's moons are named after famous people like Dr Seuss, Beethoven, and Maya Angelou.

Huge thanks to Three Sparrow Books for the advance copy of Space Cadet due out in July this year. It is published by Hachette. I have previously talked about other books by Ashleigh Barton. And Peter Cheong - Every Night at Midnight. 

Publisher blurb: Freddie Spector loves collecting facts - about anything and everything. His latest obsession is space. It's all he talks about: stars, planets, galaxies, astronauts, space travel - and, of course UFOs and extraterrestrials. Freddie writes all his facts on sticky notes that his mum and big sister, Henrietta, keep finding in weird places - like in their sock drawers or their sandwiches. But whenever Freddie collects facts on a topic, his very active imagination always gets involved too. And, after noticing some very suspicious goings-on, Freddie realises it's up to him to discover the answer to a burning question: could aliens have landed in his neighborhood? Fast-paced and funny, this series is all about an everyday eight-year-old boy whose love of facts and extraordinary imagination come together with unexpected and hilarious results.

Here is the second book in the series which will also be released in July, 2024.

Cave Paintings by Jairo Buitrago illustrated by Rafael Yockteng translated by Elisa Amado

As this book begins we meet a young boy waiting at a space station somewhere in the universe. He is heading away for a holiday with his grandmother which means he needs to travel, as he has in the past, to the farthest planet. We are not told the name of his home planet but it is clear his grandmother lives on our planet Earth. It is also clear this story is set far into the future as we see other aliens embarking and then disembarking from the amazing space craft. The airline attendants are sure to amaze you.

The boy and his grandmother climb into a bubble shaped craft and they head off across different landscapes before arriving at a cave. This is what they see:

Lascaux is famous for its Palaeolithic cave paintings, found in a complex of caves in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, because of their exceptional quality, size, sophistication and antiquity. Estimated to be up to 20,000 years old, the paintings consist primarily of 

large animals, once native to the region.

At the end of his holiday his grandmother gives the boy a set of  pencils. Your young reading companion is sure to be puzzled or curious about why this boy is not familiar with a simple set of familiar objects but these are ancient artefacts which once belonged to his ancestors. On the way home he uses the pencils and a note book from his grandmother to draw the view out of his window and his memories of his recent holiday. He is using art to interpret his world just as the cave painters did in ancient times.

A work at once both limitless and grounded, the imaginative illustrations will be especially appealing to lovers of science fiction and fantasy. School Library Journal

An ode to the endless possibilities of art, a celebration of open borders, and a reverence for the contributions of our collective ancestors. Horn Book

Celebrated collaborators deliver another thoughtful delight, revealing how “making marks” links us across time and space. Kirkus

Here is the publisher blurb "Our hero travels all alone on a spaceship, through the universe, past galaxies, comets and planets to go visit his grandmother on Earth for the summer holidays. She takes him to visit an ancient cave, where he discovers handprints and drawings of unknown animals made by human beings, just like him. To top off his wonderful holiday she gives him mysterious objects which once belonged to his grandfather — paper and crayons. On the way home he draws what he saw on his travels — to the amazement of his fellow passengers. Jairo Buitrago’s thought-provoking story reminds us of what remains as everything changes. Rafael Yockteng’s fabulous art, a tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, presents us a wonderful, diverse future in which space travel is common, though knowledge of the past is still a secret treasure to be discovered."

The original title of this book is Pinturas rupestres. 

I loved all the quirky aliens in this book and the wonderful space travel vehicles. This book could be a good way to introduce Science Fiction to a young reader. 

I first discovered Rafael Yockteng through the IBBY Honour book display which was hosted here in NSW by Lost in Books. I was immediately drawn to his book Two White Rabbits. I cannot read Spanish but the illustrations told a powerful story. Later I discovered this book has been translated into English. 

When I was researching International Illustrators for an IBBY Australia presentation I sought out Rafael's work again and saw Cave Painting.  Luckily for me, boy oh boy I am so lucky, my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has purchased this for her school library and so I can now read this quirky and very intriguing book.

Book Week is now behind us. This year the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) selected the slogan Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. As often happens, after the event I always find things that fit the theme - either display materials in $2 shops or in this case the perfect book. Cave Painting beautifully encapsulates Old Worlds (cave paintings), New Worlds (Space travel) and Other Worlds (aliens and other planets).

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds - Science Fiction

 

Science Fiction  Definition (Read Write Think):

Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories often tell about science and technology of the future. It is important to note that science fiction has a relationship with the principles of science—these stories involve partially true partially fictitious laws or theories of science. It should not be completely unbelievable, because it then ventures into the genre fantasy. The plot creates situations different from those of both the present day and the known past. Science fiction texts also include a human element, explaining what effect new discoveries, happenings and scientific developments will have on us in the future. Science fiction texts are often set in the future, in space, on a different world, or in a different universe or dimension. 

I vividly remember the first children's Science Fiction book I read (as an adult). It was Trillions by Nichols Fisk. I was working with a young reading student. For my teaching degree we had to work with a child for several months with the goal of increasing their reading score. I didn't think too much about the score but rather I wanted this young boy to fall in love with reading so I hunted out as many Science Fiction (his passion) books beginning with really simple titles and eventually introducing longer and more complex books. Of course his reading score went up!

In this post I plan to share some Science Fiction books. These might be a way to explore two of the phrases from the CBCA slogan for 2021 - NEW WORLDS and OTHER WORLDS. I have not included books about robots - I might talk about them in a future post. I have only included books I have actually read. You are sure to other favourites in your own library or personal collection. Please share them in the comments. 

Picture Books

Q Pootle 5 by Nick Butterworth

Senior Primary novels

If you have older students (Grade 5 or 6) who are keen on or would like to dip into Science Fiction here are a few titles I previously enjoyed (Note some will now be out of print but they might be in a school library possibly with a different cover). I have not included dystopia titles such as the Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix or books by our own Australian writer Bren McDibble.

The Future Trap by Catherine Jinks

Voyage to Verdada by James Roy

The Unexplainable disappearance of Mars Patel by Sheela Chari

Funny Books

Books like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams show us that Science Fiction can be fun. Here are some titles for your junior students:

Halfway across the Galaxy and Turn Left