Earth Space Moon Base

British artist Price (Love Bites) mixes polished draftsmanship, the eerie loneliness of outer space, and an unusual team of astronauts in his first book for children. Limiting himself to a palette of cool gray-blues accented with orange and yellow (until the green and purple aliens show up, that is), Price pans across the desolate lunar setting. Readers are led down a long ladder—“Open the hatch/ Down we go”—where a spaceman, monkey and robot load a flying saucer with boxes of bananas. The robot trains a camera on a deep crater, and the monkey ventures out with a space hose, spraying bananas around the crater’s mouth. What are the bananas meant to do? “Then, all of a sudden, something shoots out!/ Tentacles squirm and thrash about!” This is official lunar policy, apparently; the lumpy aliens are kept at bay with regular doses of bananas: “Sleepy and full, the creatures retreat./ They’ve all had far too much to eat.” The contrast between the deadpan, highly technical spreads and the Monty Pythonesque humor will keep listeners riveted—and giggling. Ages 3–7. Agent: Isabel Atherton, Creative Authors. (Aug.)