A Tuesday Ten: Even More Science Fiction Picture Books!

Running late on everything this week due to illness and busy-ness, but here’s my belated Tuesday Ten!  I’m revisiting Science Fiction Picture Books, a topic I’ve covered twice before in my lists : Science Fiction in Picture Books and More Picture Book Science Fiction .

1.

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt (Chronicle Books, Expected Publication May 2015)

New this year! Cannot wait to read this book in its entirety.  Our engineer Cinderella dreams of fixing fancy robots, and when the Prince’s own ship has mechanical trouble guess who will save the day?  This book is on my current wish list as it hits on outerspace, science fiction, engineer heroines, fairy tales . . . just so many good things in one book!

2.

Blast Off by Linda C. Cain and Susan Rosenbaum, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (Gin and Co, 1973)

I’m including an interior shot for this one, because you have to believe me, this is the only science fictional picture book I know with an African American heroine rocketing off into space.  Our young protagonist dreams of being an astronaut even when others laugh at the idea, and she builds her own rocketship to follow her ambitions.

3.

Cosmo and the Robot by Brian Pinkney (Greenwillow Books, 2000)

Life can be dull on Mars, until your old robot goes haywire and you’ve got to fix him! Cosmo has got to rescue his sister, Jewel and find a way to salvage Rex. Pinkney’s POC protagonist is a rare one, but I’m glad to add him to the list of science fiction picture books out there for kids.

4.

 Earth Space Moon Base by Ben Joel Price (Random House, 2014)

Not my favorite picture book, but a goofy one with simple imagery and rhyming text that describes the antics going on at a moon base where things are not as quiet as one might expect . . .

5.

Visit My Alien Worlds by Donato Giancola, illustrated by Marc Gave (Little Brown and Company, c2002)

A “travel brochure” style of picture book I’ll have to find.  The narrator describes all the outlandish places he’s been and the images help fill in the details to make the places seem real.

6.

You are the First Kid on Mars by Patrick O’Brien (Putnam Juvenile, c2009)

An adventure story extrapolating from the latest tech of the time to describe what the reader’s experience might be like going to Mars.  With talk of Martian colonies more than mere pipe dreams these days and so much more information on the Red Planet, such scenarios seem closer and closer to reality.

7.

Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg (HMH Books, c2002)

A companion book to the fantastical Jumanji, this newest book sees Danny and Walter with a new game, one that sends them on an intergalactic adventure. In order to get home again, these two arguing brothers will have to work as a team!

8.

The Ship that Sailed to Mars by William Timlin (Calla Editions, c1923)

I know I’ve mentioned this one several times on lists.  It’s more science fantasy than science fact, but it’s still a glorious space adventure in a ship to Mars, and that makes it count in my book.  Even in 1923, folks were creating books full of wonder about the vastness of space, and telling their children stories of what it might be like to travel there.

9.

Wendel’s Workshop by Chris Riddell (Katherine Tegen Books, c2007)

This anthropomorphic story features one of the most common inventor themes: inventors whose inventions get out of their control!  In this case, Wendel is not a tidy inventor, and when he decides to invent a robot to deal with the mess, he winds up swept out with the trash! Uh oh!

10.

The Wump World by Bill Peet (HMH books, c1970)

An alien planet allegory about how Pollutians invade Wump World and cover everything in concrete.  Finally, the Pollutians destroy so much of the world that they leave it, leaving the wumps behind in the mess.  This was a common environmental theme from many 70s books, particularly science fiction stories.

So there’s my ten!  What are your favorite Science Fiction Picture Books?

Comments Welcome!