I always knew that books were portals to another universe and here is proof.
On opening, Portis, the creator of the acclaimed This is Not a Box, presents us with a black circle incased in an orange square and a Hey! to keep us focused. At the bottom right are two circles, one for power and one for auto translate. Through this portal we meet Zrk and Blrg, two beings who are fascinated by the realisation that aliens are real! They are terrified that the alien may come through the portal and eat them but then they see that the alien has actually quite small teeth so after some prelimary conversation (Planeturth, never heard of it) Zrk and Blg have fun pranking their friends and leave us with a message.
This look at ourselves from an alien point of view is very entertaining throughout. I did partiucarly enjoy their view of their planet Zyl, ‘most important planet in the most important solar system in the most important galaxy in the universe’. There is scope here for some discussion on how we all view ourselves and our place in the universe.
The art is bold and brilliant with much use of black to frame the scenes – but we are looking through a portal. Much is seen in extreme closeup, again supporting the illustion of inquisitive youngsters looking at a screen. The aliens have eyes, teeth, noses and have limbs so they are a recognizable shape for children. The whole is an original take on life out there and lots of fun for young explorers.
They leave us with this message ‘ Skf flrbl grnk! Parents and teachers will enjoy attempting to decipher this and maybe working out various ways to reciprocate.
The engaging Lesson Ideas take this further and are recommended for all.
I always knew that books were portals to another universe and here is proof.
