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Summary
Summary
Monty's world seems a little different this morning. For one thing, he can't help noticing his mother suddenly has three heads. And is serving liver flakes for breakfast. Then there are the unusual animals he encounters, who all seem to be talking and . . . wearing costumes? There's no way around it--Monty has definitely woken up on the wrong planet.
The problem is, he has no idea how to get home. He needs advice. But from whom? The scatterbrained donkey? The no-nonsense ant? Or the old man on the mountaintop?
Readers will delight in joining Monty's journey through this oddball alternate universe, packed with funny details.
Author Notes
David Milgrim is theauthor and illustrator ofnumerous picture books,including Young MacDonald and Cows Can't Fly. He livesin Wakefield, Rhode Island.
David Milgrim is theauthor and illustrator ofnumerous picture books,including Young MacDonald and Cows Can't Fly. He livesin Wakefield, Rhode Island.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-One morning, Monty wakes up on the wrong planet. A three-headed mother and liver flakes for breakfast are sure tip-offs. Unfortunately, the youngster cannot remember how to get back to Earth (this has happened before). Pretending to go to school, he instead searches for help. Buck, a horse, promises to take him home, but Monty soon discovers that Buck is really a donkey named Tulip in disguise, and that he's never heard of Earth. Tulip whips out his cell phone and calls his friends-an assortment of animals, also costumed as horses-who offer a flurry of conflicting advice, before agreeing that Monty should consult "the Starman on the Hill." Gazing at the stars makes the boy tired, and he remembers that he can leave the same way he arrived: by falling asleep. The first-person narrative reads like a child relating a dream, complete with abrupt transitions and surreal events. The cartoon illustrations are also childlike and include many fun details. Dialogue appears in balloons and carries much of the story's humor (e.g., Monty's alien mother advises as he leaves the house, "Don't eat anyone"). The sheer silliness of the adventure will appeal to youngsters, as will the idea of life on another planet.-Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The other day, I woke up on the wrong planet," claims Monty, the boy narrator of this reverie. "It happens to me every once in a while." His mother has three heads, and she sends him off with a stack of identical math books, calling, "Have a nice day at school... Don't eat anyone." Accompanied by his doglike pet, which has antennae, pink stripes and a droopy conical nose, Monty sits under a blue tree and attempts "to remember how I got home the other times." Finally he gets assistance from a horse (which turns out to be a donkey in disguise). and asks for help from a stargazing sage who looks wise but mistakes the boy for the pizza delivery guy. At last Monty recalls that if he falls asleep, he'll awaken in his usual bedroom. Milgrim's (Young MacDonald) digitally rendered characters are just a step up from stick figures, drawn in a black line and filled with matching blues and burgundies. His alternate planet, a rock-strewn desert with multiple moons shining in the night sky, is too Earthly to be weird and makes the dream conclusion all the more disappointing. Monty's deadpan narration is the funniest part of an unsurprising adventure. Ages 4-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary) ""The other day, I woke up on the wrong planet,"" the young narrator begins. How does he know? Well, his mom has three heads; his dog has antennae and pink-and-purple stripes; he is served liver flakes for breakfast; and as he leaves the house, his mom (technically, his mom's third head) tells him not to eat anyone at school. A la The Wizard of Oz, our hero (""Monty's the name"") just wants to go home, but he doesn't quite remember how, so he sets off in search of a ""space transporter, or maybe a secret passage, or even just a rocket."" Instead, he finds a donkey in a horse costume and a guru on a mountaintop waiting for a pizza delivery. Young readers will figure out long before Monty that it's all a vivid dream, giving them a knowing edge and making the zany, hallucinatory happenings safe and unthreatening. Cheerful cartoon illustrations (""digital ink and digital oil pastel"") indulge completely in the offbeat while retaining a simplicity of shape and composition that will appeal to the book's intended audience. The final illustration, of Monty waking up in his own bed, greeted by his own (one-headed) mother, provides welcome closure -- while his bedroom's decor offers a hint as to why his dreams are out of this world. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Carrying the idea of waking up on the wrong side of the bed to the next level, Milgrim has a young narrator wake up on entirely the wrong planet. A sense that he's done this before keeps Monty from panicking, and so, having survived a breakfast of liver flakes dished up by his suddenly three-headed mother, Monty saunters off beneath a stack of math textbooks, trying to remember how he got back home the last time. A decidedly oddball journey ensues, as he makes his way through an alien landscape populated by bizarre rodeo riders and an entire herd of diverse animals in horse costumes. Eventually, Monty laboriously climbs up to ask the wise Starman on the Hill for help. That grizzled gent offers pizza and stargazing--a celestial combination that lands Monty back in his own, Earthly bed just in time to be awakened by his (one-headed) Mom. A wry, low-key alternative to Barbara Todd's similarly surreal but more frenetic Roger Gets Carried Away (2005), illustrated by Rog. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A boy finds himself waking up on the wrong planet, where his now three-headed mother serves him a big bowl of liver flakes for breakfast. Sure that he has had similarly bizarre travel experiences before but unable to remember how to get home, the plucky lad explores a bit, makes some new friends, and finally figures out how to get home. Although not as original as Milgrim's Here in Space (1997), this picture book has much that will please children: a space-travel adventure with strange-looking but friendly aliens, droll humor in text and speech balloons, and pleasing digital art. Though adults may think the ending a bit cliched, young children may not have seen its like before, and in any case, they may find it comforting to know what to do when they find themselves waking up on the wrong planet. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2007 Booklist
