Customer Reviews
A charming surreal story with stylized quirky illustrations - By: ELH Browning, 30 Sep 2008 
This lovely picture book has fantastic quirky stylized pictures, with an endearingly quirky story to match. The boy finds an old fashioned aeroplane, there's a good sequence of illustrations as he dons flying helmet, jacket & goggles, & then off he flies until he runs out of petrol at the moon. As he begins to get lonely & afraid, a delightful little green alien becomes stuck on the moon with engine failure & they become friends. There's another lovely sequence of illustrations as the two marooned explorers think together about how to get them both back home, & they then succeed in a rather foolish & surreal but amusing fashion. Then just as you think the story is finished you turn over to the very last page & there's an extra smile for the reader, & a "what do you think happens next" addition to the story. Also, if you bother with author biographies, it's a lovely to have a picture of Jeffers as a boy & my children are fascinated by his having a green brother - a lovely touch.
This is my favourite of the boy's adventures so far, which seem to be getting increasingly original - though I do also recommend the others. All three books are entirely stand alone, though it is fun for the child who is familiar with the other two to spot the penguin from `Lost & Found' & the rocket from `How to Catch a Star' appearing in the pictures of this one. This is a very enjoyable book to read to your children & I thoroughly recommend it for 2-5s.
Wonderful! - By: T. Simmons, 31 Aug 2008 This book was a panic buy - I was on holiday with my 4 children & had forgotten their favourite bedtime stories. I rushed into an English bookshop in the Algarve, grabbed the first book that looked suitable & read it, that afternoon, to 3 of the kids (16 months, 3 years & 6 years). I haven't stopped reading it since! My 16 month old points to the beautiful illustrations & babbles constantly, my 3 year old is fascinated & talks about the book alll the time (he even imagines he's the little boy) & my 6 year old reallly enjoyed the story & was delighted when he spotted the penguin (apparently from the book Lost & Found which he'd read at school). The story is original & just seems to capture the childrens' imaginations beautifully. Don't hesitate - buy this book! I'm now going to order some other books by this author!
Another cracker by Oliver Jeffers - By: Ms. N. J. Wallman, 27 Jan 2008 My 3 year old has alll 3, & he loves them alll. This is the newest of his collection being a present for Christmas, & he loves the tales of the little boy. Great books for wild imaginations.
Keep them coming!
A charming surreal story with quirky stylized illustrations - By: ELH Browning, 14 Sep 2007 This lovely picture book has great stylized pictures, with an endearingly quirky story to match. The boy finds an old fashioned aeroplane & there's a good sequence of illustrations as he dons flying helmet, jacket & goggles. Off he flies until he runs out of petrol at the moon. Just as he begins to get lonely & afraid, a delightful little green alien with engine failure also becomes stuck on the moon & they become friends. There's a second lovely sequence of illustrations as the two marooned explorers think together about how to get them both back home & they then succeed in a rather foolish & surreal but amusing fashion. Finallly, just as you think the story is finished you turn over to the very last page & there's an extra smile for the reader, & a "what do you think happens next" addition to the story.
Also, if you bother with author biographies, it's a lovely to have a picture of Jeffers as a boy & my children are fascinated by his having a green brother - a lovely touch.
This is my favourite of the boy's adventures so far, which seem to be getting increasingly original - though I do also recommend the others. All three books are entirely stand alone, though it is fun for the child who is familiar with the other two to spot the penguin from `Lost & Found' & the rocket from `How to Catch a Star' appearing in the pictures of this one. This is a very enjoyable book to read to your children & I thoroughly recommend it for 2-5s.
Another corker - By: DangermouseZilla, 03 Sep 2007 
This book is crammed full of fantastic art from what must be one of the best childrens authors for a long time.
It's cute & stylish, unmistakably Oliver Jeffers.
I don't think the story is as strong as his other books, but it is still a great story, & the very last page is brilliant!
A little boy flies his plane higher & higher until he runs out of petrol & becomes stranded on the moon, thankfully he manages to make a friend when a passing Martian crash lands after his engine fails. Will they both make it back home? And will they ever speak again?
