9780525514466 |
0525514465 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Penrose Library | Children's Book | RUTT | Children's-J-Easy | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Rockrimmon Library | Children's Book | RUTT | Children's-J-Easy | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Adopting an extraterrestrial leads to hilariously mixed results!
When a family goes for a stroll one morning and encounters an adorable little creature with no collar or tag (who just happens to be sitting in the wreckage of an unidentified crash-landed object), they happily adopt the lovable stray. They name him Grub and set about training him, but that works surprisingly . . . poorly. Taking him for a walk is an unexpected adventure, too. As hard as they try to make Grub feel at home, it's just not working. Could he already have a family of his own? Maybe he isn't really a stray, after all--just lost. But how on earth will they be able to find his family when he seems to come from somewhere . . . out of this world?
Author Notes
Molly Ruttan (mollyruttan.com) illustrated I Am a Thief (by Abigail Rayner), and The Stray is the first book she has both written and illustrated. She grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, earned a BFA in graphic design from the Cooper Union School of Art in New York, and established a career as a graphic designer and illustrator in Los Angeles. She is married to her childhood friend and music producer, Gabriel Moffat. In addition to illustrating, drawing, painting, and writing, and parenting three daughters, Molly works part-time as a freelance graphic designer; plays drums and sings in the eclectic-folk rock band New Garden; creates artwork for, records, and performs as a backup singer and percussionist in the progressive art rock band Phideaux (bloodfish.com); and is a member of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music's adult choir Silverlake Singers.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A family encounters a stray on their walk; since he has neither a collar nor a tag, they take him home. What the narrator never mentions--but readers can instantly see--is that the stray is a pet-size alien whose spaceship has crashed to earth. Grub, as the family names him, seems comfy in his new home, taking a shine to the toaster and unleashing gravity-suspending powers: soon, the kids are flying around the living room, and a neighbor's wading pool is turned into a multistory waterslide. But Grub grows homesick, and while his adoptive family imagines their new life together (Dad pictures the alien hanging his head out his truck window, just like a dog), they do the right thing: one of their "FOUND" signs reaches the mother ship, and Grub is spirited away. Ruttan (I Am a Thief!) ends her solo debut on an abrupt note ("Maybe we'll see him again sometime!"), but her digitally enhanced charcoal and pastel drawings have heightened textures and an inner radiance that infuse the everyday settings with a lovely fairy tale quality. One can almost believe that extraterrestrial magic really can happen in the most ordinary of places. Ages 3--7. Agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency. (May)
Booklist Review
While they're out on a stroll one day, a family of five stumbles across a stray creature, lost and alone. Since he has no collar or tag, they take him home, name him Grub, and try to incorporate him into their lives, taking him for walks and teaching him tricks. But while they're excited about their new family member, Grub can't seem to adjust--and they start to wonder if he has his own family somewhere that he's missing. They decide to start looking for Grub's family. As it turns out, Grub's family may be looking for him, too. Many of the narrative details are cleverly embedded in the artwork: while the text alone reads as though the family has simply found a stray dog or cat, the illustrations clearly depict Grub as a small alien creature with stalk eyes and pointy teeth who emerges from a crashed spaceship and levitates objects in the family's house and neighborhood. Fun and layered, this is an appealing story for family bedtime reads.