MAIN TITLE Book Reviews
Article Title Aliens Love Underpants Claire Freedman
Hilarious story about aliens coming down to earth to steal everyone's fanciest and best from washing lines. Excellent rhyming story which had me and the sock-biter in stitches. Watch out for the detail in the underwear in the illustrations. Well put together package which came top in the recent Richard and Judy programme on kids reading on Channel 4.
It may not be mind-enhancing literature but my boys (3 & 5) love to laugh about underwear and this combination of pants and silly creatures from outer-space is guaranteed to hit the spot. In smooth rhyming text, aliens fly down to earth and steal knickers from washing-lines having some sport along the way.
Each double page is a great big picture and one short verse of text such as: "They
like them red, they like the green, or orange like satsumas.
But best of all they
love the sight of Granny's spotted bloomers."
The humour is bright and bold (for
the 2-5s) with a mention of Mum's pink frilly knickers, aliens wearing pants on their
heads and other foolish or funny things.
The illustrations are a perfect accompaniment, also bright and bold, with lots of
interesting things to point out - colourful aliens of all shapes and sizes, details
such as a UFO "hotpants" bumper sticker, an alien hiding in an underwear drawer and
so on. There are also many different designs of pants and knickers on a final double
page after the story is concluded, and it's surprising how long my three-year old
will spend choosing a colour and pattern for every friend and family member. And
he thinks it is very funny to choose daisy pants for his brother and pirate pants
for Grandad....
Other than this last page loitering, however, `Aliens Love Underpants' is a simple
quick read and one that all preschool children will enjoy. And if you find underwear
to be an inspiring topic for your little one, then try Andreae & Sharratt's Pants
(and the sequel "More Pants". No, I'm not joking) for the same age group which is
less wordy, with strong rhythm and rhyme, varied and inspiring pictures, and it endures
the text of time.
About the Author
The Article Shop - PG is an Article shop writer. If you visit our home Page you will see that the article shop consists of quality articles written to be valuable to our readers and publishers. Please feel free to publish this article but please also ensure you follow our Terms of service.