Alien Book Series for Kids
Chapter Books Let Readers Make First Contact With Alien Worlds
Mar 25, 2009
Ever dream of flying away in an alien spacecraft, receiving powers from a friendly extraterrestrial, or exploring an alien world? These fun chapter book series can take kids to the farthest reaches of outer space – and beyond.
My Teacher is an Alien Book Series by Bruce Coville
When sixth grader Susan Simmons catches her substitute teacher “Mr. Smith” peeling off his face, she learns her sub is really an alien named Broxholm who has abducted her real teacher Ms. Schwartz and imprisoned her in a force field. But things get even more frightening when Susan and her friend Peter Thompson sneak into Broxholm’s home and discover he wants to kidnap five kids from their class and take them to outer space.
As Susan and Peter try to warn their classmates about their extraterrestrial teacher’s plans, Broxholm confronts Susan, Peter makes a life-changing decision, and the entire school wonders – which one of them will experience an alien abduction?
Funny and thought provoking, My Teacher is an Alien proved so popular that author Bruce Coville continued the story in three other books, My Teacher Fried My Brains, My Teacher Glows in the Dark, and My Teacher Flunked the Planet. Each book introduced new aliens, including Kreeblim, a three-eyed female teacher, and Hoo-Lan, Peter’s Yoda-like mentor, all depicted in alien pictures by illustrator John Pierard.
The later books also explored sensitive issues including world hunger, war, and greed, as Peter and Susan discover the aliens are not evil but want to understand why humans are so prone to violence. What Peter and Susan end up discovering about humanity’s own secret history and abilities is incredible and will encourage readers to reflect on their own potential.
The Animorphs Books by K.A. Applegate
An alien sighting turns into something amazing and terrifying for five teenagers in Animorphs, a popular alien book series that includes fifty-four books, five annual specials, four spin-offs, and two choose-your-own-adventure style books.
When Jake, Rachel, Marco, Cassie, and Tobias discover a dying alien Andalite named Elfangor in a construction site, they make a frightening discovery – Earth is being invaded by a race of mind-controlling alien slugs known as the Yeerks. Although the Andalites came to stop the invasion, their entire fleet was wiped out by a Yeerk sneak attack, leaving Earth defenseless.
Unwilling to leave the Earth without protectors, Elfangor uses alien technology to give the teens the power to morph into any animal they touch – allowing them to track the Yeerks as wolves; spy on them as insects; or battle them directly as tigers, elephants, and gorillas. But as this team of “Animorphs” learns how deeply the Yeerks have infiltrated their world, they begin to wonder if humanity can survive this secret war.
First released in 1996, the Animorphs books proved so popular that Nickelodeon launched a live action Animorphs TV series that ran for twenty-six episodes. Although well-made, the show could not capture the experience of reading the Animorphs books, which allow kids to feel the thrill of soaring through the skies as a hawk, battling aliens as a tiger, or barreling through steel gates as a rhinoceros – all vividly told through the characters’ first-person narration.
As the series went on, the Animorphs books dealt with many issues related to the horrors of war – including post-traumatic stress, dehumanization, and loss of innocence. These themes were taken to an even greater extreme in the spin-off books (particularly The Andalite Chronicles and The Hork-Bajir Chronicles) which told stories of battles on alien worlds where the Yeerks won.
Gripping, emotional, and always thrilling, the Animorphs books are a favorite of science fiction fans both young and old.
Do you like science fiction and fantasy books for kids? Then be sure to read Time Travel Books for Kids, Fantasy Travel Books for Kids, and Review of The Night Tourist to learn about more great sci fi and fantasy chapter books.
Applegate, K.A. Animorphs: The Invasion. New York: Scholastic, Inc. 1996. ISBN: 0-590-62977-8
Coville, Bruce. My Teacher is an Alien. New York: A Minstrel Book, 1989. ISBN: 0-671-64748-2
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