Strange Planet

This is such a feel good, silly, and weird book. Definitely something to give to an awkward loved one.

My highly intelligent, literal 11 year old adores this book and finds the comics so clever, witty, & observant! Probably because they ARE! The aliens are so charming and pure, and it’s endearing reading about their antics that are very much like our own mundane human tasks. When reading about these little guys living regular lives, it’s entertaining and kinda makes you think maybe all humans aren’t that bad after all lol. When I was on instagram, I followed this author and always got a laugh out of these little aliens. I’ve long been off IG, but that hasn’t stopped me from buying his books! My son loved this book so much, that he gifted them to 2 of his fifth grade teachers at the end of the school year. They both enjoyed them! Now to add to our collection :)

The books by this author are so funny! I bought two different ones, gave both as gifts, now need to reorder for more gifts and ones for me to keep too! The cartoons are so relatable, but with characters (aliens?) using such funny words for everyday objects--like the refrigerator being the "sustenance preserver." Common situations are made quite funny when paired with the word choices. Even my 4-year-old grandson wanted me to read it to him, as he loves playing with big words. Clean humor throughout. Parenting humor, cat and dog humor, etc.

A friend of mine and I discovered at the same striking of the clocks, at least in calendar times, the artist Nathan W. Pyle about the same time on the world-wide netting, Countenance Tome. On the Tome, Pyle's gentle humour and interesting turns of phrase ("Fortunate Amulets" for Lucky Charms, "The Cost is Correct" for the game show The Price is Right) strike the just the tone with the kind of insight and inspiration a being craves as a balance to the daily miasma of News (real or fake) and Heartache (likewise, real or fake). There are family, society, couple, friend and professional situations depicted in fascinating ways, such that, when one sees them, one might think - Of course! That's Obvious. Pyle gives us a gifted glimpse of the obvious many times. Perhaps the best part of this is that every being respects every other being. In one very poignant situation, a being is standing alone with a tray of food in the midst of a communal eating chamber, obviously the kind of situation that happens to many of us when we are new beings to a new territory. "Would you like to ingest with us?" another being calls out. With gratitude, the new-to-the-territory being accepts. "Is there a syllable sequence beings use to address you?" It turns out that it is a foreign name. "Yes, but you may find it difficult to pronounce." I've been here. Lots of times. "Then we will just practice until we can." Precious. This being has noticed a somewhat Data-from-Star-Trek-esque sense of speech process in the beings in the comic. Perhaps that is what is makes it even more endearing. It is simple, direct, meaningful, generally lacking in contractions where there might be some, and overall, a happy thing. To Nathan W. Pyle: Gratitude.

The colors and the art make this seem like a child's book with it's pastel colors, and silly aliens, but it's really about us humans, and shines a light on some of the ridiculous things we do as a species. I have Strange Planet, and Stranger Planet, and both are hilarious. Sometimes you just need to see things from a different perspective. Give it a chance.

This funny, funny book is just what you want to read with any kids old enough to hold a sentient discussion. The jokes are taking the simple things of life (a house, a crayon picture) and describing them in ways that an alien might "wax coated picture" "irregularly shaped box" --you get the idea. This kind of thing makes for giggling but also a lot of great parent-child interaction because you can do the "well, what's that REALLY" question and answer discussion and work on logic and reasoning verbal skills. Fun, hilarious pictures but most of all a way to look at things through completely naive eyes as if you were an alien. You can continue this endlessly. Pick up a toothbrush and have the kids describe it as if they were an extra-terrestrial just landed and reporting back to the mothership. My mom used to do stuff like this, making a kiddy play-date menu for us, writing out "Cow juice. Smashed Goobers and Squished Berries on a Raft" (milk and PBJ sandwiches) Here sixty years later and I'm still giggling. Build some great brain skills, fun memories and enjoy yourself.

This book is exactly what I'd hoped it would be in just about every way I can be impressed with a book. Pyle's wit is subtle, charming, and causes introspection in the mind of any reader who looks beyond the Beings to consider the implications of their behaviors for us earthlings. I've been eagerly anticipating this book since discovering the web comic a few months ago, and in spite of the hype I'd built up for it, it didn't under-deliver. What makes this book so effective, in my opinion, is that it doesn't fall victim to the traditional problem that many comics made into books tend to fall into: that of forgetting that brevity is the source of wit and dropping the ball by dragging the momentum out. By giving us little snapshots of the Beings as they encounter the mundane, it keeps the momentum going. Even the size of the book, with its small, square binding, mimics the small, square Instagram interface where I first fell for the charm of the web comic. In short, it has been a while since I've anticipated a book like this, pre-ordered it, eagerly watched the Amazon notification to see when it was delivered, and retrieved it from the mailbox almost immediately. Maybe I'm cynical, but I've been burned in the past by lackluster titles that made me regret getting excited for a big debut. This book washes all of those old, bad memories away. This book is great for a gift for anyone, but especially for yourself.

I bought this because the big head and huge eyes looked exactly like my (then) 2-month-old baby, and lo and behold, the book starts with a few baby cartoons - perfect. I loved reading while breastfeeding or just hanging out with the baby, and my husband and my father-in-law loved it too.