Peggy hears the news on the radio:
THE ALIENS ARE COMING!
THEY HAVE TAKEN OVER CALIFORNIA!
She watches the news on TV - they're getting closer! They've landed in her own town!
What's a panicked porker to do? Peggy locks her doors. She hides. They're almost here!
But just who are these aliens from outer space? Can you guess? This story about Peggy the Pig is out of this world.
Kirkus Reviews:
"In this lighthearted riff on both Beatlemania and Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds"
broadcast, Peggy - cast in Thiesing's high-energy cartoon illustrations as a pig with a
period wardrobe headlined by a pink poodle skirt - becomes increasingly alarmed at
media reports that "Aliens" are taking over the world.
New readers can follow the invasion's progress on background maps and globes,
as Europe falls, followed by Japan, California, and the rest of the US in succession.
Eventually, Peggy's upstate New York town is next, and her terror knows no bounds -
until the music starts, and she opens her eyes to see a quintet of canine musicians
up on the stage. You guessed it. In no time, she's joined the dance, exclaiming,
"They're out of this world!" Rock on. (Easy reader. 6-8)"
ages: 4 and up
Illustrations from The Aliens Are Coming:
School Library Journal's review of The Aliens Are Coming
Peggy the Pig, first introduced in The Viper (Dutton, 2002), returns in
this amusing beginning reader. The fast-paced, suspenseful text describes how she
hears a radio report that the "Aliens are coming," and then becomes more and more
worried as they journey closer and closer to her home. She tracks their progress
on the map, buys emergency supplies, and cowers inside her house.
At the conclusion of this story, when her friend drags her out to a concert,
Peggy finally realizes that she has misunderstood just who the "Aliens" really are.
The comical illustrations reveal that the pig lives in an earlier era: she wears
a poodle skirt and scarf and fiddles with the dials of an old-fashioned radio.
This clever tale will appeal to newly independent readers.
-Andrea Tarr, Corona Public Library, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
from the Children's Literature review of The Aliens Are Coming
...this short adventure for the youngest readers has plenty of action, and Thiesing's just-right watercolors offer not only fun, but some subliminal information on communications and geography as Peggy consults radios, newspapers, television, a globe, two maps, and an atlas. The silly story would also work as a read-aloud for pre-readers; it might even be dramatized by a group of aspiring actors for presentation to another class. 2004, Dutton, Ages 5 to 8.
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