The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot by Margaret McNamara and Mark Fearing

The story of the Three Little Pigs heads to outer space in this fractured fairy tale.  Here there are three little aliens, who must find a new planet to live on.  Their mother advises them to stick together, but two of the little aliens don’t listen.  When Bork sees the space rover on the red planet, she just can’t resist living there.  Gork is drawn in by the satellite circling around a planet surrounded by rings.  Nklxwcyz went deep into space until he found a planet that he thought was perfect.  It was blue with nice breezes.  When the Big Bad Robot arrived in the galaxy, there is no where for Bork and Gork to hide, because they had been too busy playing with their new toys to build homes.  So both of them fled to Nlkxwcyz’s house deep in space.  And you will just have to read the book to see how the Big Bad Robot is defeated.

While this is a light-hearted fiction book, it is also one that has some science mixed in.  The planets that the three aliens travel to are the planets in our galaxy.  They start out at home at Mercury.  Bork settles on Mars, Gork on Saturn and Nlkxwcyz on Neptune. This adds a nice dimension to the book. 

McNamara’s prose is a pleasure to read aloud.  The noises of the Big Bad Robot add much to the book’s fun and build the tension up.  The illustrations by Fearing are quirky and fun.  The backdrop of stars and the familiar planets make for a winning setting for the pictures. 

A fun, fractured fairy tale, this book will be popular with children who enjoy space and robots.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade Books.

Also reviewed by:

• Everything Mom
• She Is Too Fond of Books