They Came

The title’s big movie-style letters and the cover portrait of a horrified human boy dwarfed by a towering purple form deliver laughs straight out of the gate. The Carl Sagan–esque questions that follow—“Why did they come? What do they want? Why are they here?”—and the mock-serious spreads of deep space keep the giggles coming as an alien spaceship hurtles through the galaxy and lands in a small suburban community. The police put up crime tape. A reporter calls lights and cameras. A general orders tanks. But little Stephen Sprout thinks he knows what the aliens really want, and he’s right: it’s what most people want on top of their hot chocolate (spoiler alert: it’s marshmallows). Cartoonist Tatulli has a firm grasp of comedy, with expert timing and a deadpan narrative voice, his human characters displaying wide-eyed looks of consternation. The end message comes across as a little heavy-handed, but the aliens’ chief motivation for visiting is still as plausible as any other theory that’s been put forth. Ages 4–8. [em]Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (July) [/em]