Earthling by Mark Fearing (Published by Chronicle Kids)

Review by Chris Singer

About the author (from Amazon.com):
Mark Fearing is an award-winning illustrator, cartoonist and animator. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, daughter, two dogs, and a cat.

About the book (From Amazon.com):
Every kid worries about making friends at a new school, but when nine-year-old Bud accidentally catches the wrong bus and finds himself launched into deep space, new friends are the least of his problems! At Cosmos Academy, Bud learns that Earthlings are the most feared creatures in the galaxy, and even Earth’s location has been hidden! With the help of his new friend, Gort, Bud goes undercover as a Tenarian exchange student. Unfortunately that means everyone thinks he’s a pro at anti-gravity Zero-Ball (even though he’s really only a pro at watching sports). And with paranoid Principal Lepton threat ening to expel any Earthlings (into outer space) and only Gort’s hacked Blip computer to help them determine Earth’s co-ordinates, will Bud ever find his way home?

My take on the book:
Graphic novels are some of my favorite reads, but they’re not always suitable for young readers. Meet author/illustrator Mark Fearing and his new book, “Earthlings.” The day I received this in the mail from Chronicle Kids, I read it from cover to cover. I loved the story as well as the fantastic cartoon illustrations.

The next morning my three year old daughter saw the book and was immediately intrigued by the cover and the colorful illustrations. Within minutes, she was even pagin through the book and asking me to read it to her. So we’ve been reading and I’m not sure how much she’s really getting, but she’s having a hoot with the pictures.

All in all, this is a brilliant, fast-moving science fiction adventure dads will have a blast reading along with the kids. I highly recommend checking this one out.