To Activate Space Portal, Lift Here
by Antoinette Portis; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Porter/Holiday    56 pp.
10/25    9780823459858    $18.99

The opening spread of this meta intergalactic romp should entice viewers: a small orange square with a smaller black circle at its center sits in the middle of a full-bleed black background. “Hey!” appears in white on the left. At bottom right are two small green (for the moment) circles labeled “power” and “auto translate.” Turn the page; the center square is bigger, and a large eye with an orange iris and black pupil is clearly visible. It’s soon apparent that we are the “something out there” that two gourd-shaped creatures—Zrk and Blrg—are looking at through the newly opened space portal (see title). After freaking out (“ALIENS ARE REAL!!!!”), Zrk and Blrg engage readers in conversation: “Hey alien, can you talk?” “Planeturth? Never heard of it.” The brightly colored, heavily black-outlined characters take center stage in Portis’s eye-catching and varied compositions, as do their playful personalities. Telling readers, “Make a hungry face, Alien! Can you make your teeth bigger?” they then prank their buddies: “Ha! We did not run away like our friends!” When the power indicator turns yellow, the portal begins to close; Blrg and Zrk hurry to convey a message to “planeturthlings,” but it remains a mystery. The auto translator turns red as they say, “SKF FLRBL GRNK!” The clever premise stands up to repeat readings—power up this interactive adventure for out-of-this-world storytimes.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.