In this Notes section, we travel to space — or things from space travel to us. Here are five picture books featuring space aliens, space portals, or imaginative space travelers. For more, see the Space tag in the Guide/Reviews Database.

RO-BO
by Mariana Ruiz Johnson; illus. by the author; trans. from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Primary    Orca    40 pp.
10/25    9781459842267    $21.95

In this comical and imaginative cautionary tale, originally published in Argentina, young Milo receives a present: RO-BO, a multipurpose robot with a propeller, a sweet smile, and one red-rimmed eye. Instantly smitten, Milo learns that his new toy can project video games, fly, and even teach “bad words.” Soon the boy is spending every moment with RO-BO, refusing to bathe and losing sleep. Johnson deftly employs comic-book-style panels, with dialogue in speech bubbles, to show the many activities they enjoy as well as Milo’s increasing exhaustion. When Milo’s concerned mom sends him outside, urging him to make (human) friends, he meets three children attempting to construct a cardboard spaceship. Milo joins them, and, with a little help from RO-BO, they soar into the cosmos on their DIY creation. Johnson fills each spread with colors that shimmer and shine, especially after the adventurers land on a friendly planet. She emphasizes warm tones and round shapes in her mixed-media illustrations, comforting readers even when things become perilous. Before they can return home, RO-BO needs recharging, but how? Kinetic energy saves the day. The clever ending includes a RO-BO instructional manual. BRIAN E. WILSON

I Come from Another Galaxy
by James Kwan; illus. by the author
Primary    Abrams    40 pp.
7/25    9781419771149    $18.99
e-book ed.  9798887071640    $17.09

A young space explorer records the ups and downs of intergalactic education in this lighthearted, affirming take on the perennial first-day-of-school tale. Clad in a tiny space suit, wide-eyed astronaut James lands a rocket and bounces delightedly across a novel planetary landscape before reporting to the bus stop. Our narrator is curious about new alien classmates, but the dizzying UFO ride to school kicks off a disorienting day in an unfamiliar environment. The bathroom is too perplexing to use, the rules of recess slime-ball don’t seem human-friendly, and nobody can say James; his optimism beaten down by mid-day, James retreats to “this little book” and writes about the day’s experiences in solitude. With candy-colored pencil and digital landscapes and smiling goggly-eyed students, Kwan establishes a quirky extraterrestrial atmosphere that feels strange but not threatening. Diary-style prose captures James’s earnest, often charming perspective: “I can even see my old home, like a faraway blueberry.” The protagonist’s gift of observation provides a pivotal point of connection when, after recess, James offers the journal up for show-and-tell; riveted classmates are now quick to share the bathroom code and their excess slime and generally welcome the new kid into the fold. This reassuring, accessible story speaks to both nervous newcomers and their future friends. JESSICA TACKETT MACDONALD

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. KITTY FLYNN

The Search for Our Cosmic Neighbors
by Chloe Savage; illus. by the author
Primary    Candlewick    40 pp.
9/25    9781536247497    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781536248753    $18.99

Savage’s exquisitely illustrated speculative sci-fi picture book shifts focus from the Arctic Ocean in her previous work (The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish, rev. 5/23) to deep space, depicting a group of Earth scientists hoping to “answer the greatest question of our universe: Are we alone?” Already ten years into their journey, the dejected Star Drifter crew have yet to discover any signs of life. After agreeing to “try one last planet,” they land in yet another seemingly lifeless landscape; however, comical glimpses of extraterrestrial life are revealed to the reader and the crew’s lovable dog, Khan. The omniscient narration humorously clashes with what is shown on the page — particularly during a scene where Khan is showered with attention and gifts by bright-yellow creatures as the oblivious crew packs up their gear. Eventually, contact is made, and interspecies attempts to communicate, share culture, and explore the others’ homes result in the astronauts’ deep admiration for the space creatures’ happy existence. Savage’s fluid ink and watercolor depictions of swirling celestial bodies in vibrant green, purple, black, and pink are arresting and atmospheric. Creative bio-tech designs, detailed spacecraft crosscuts, and imaginative extraterrestrial flora and fauna warrant careful inspection. An inventive, aspirational, and (perhaps overly) optimistic projection of futuristic space exploration and cosmic connections. PATRICK GALL

E-I-UFO: Old MacDonald Had a Farm
by Zach von Zonk; illus. by Benjamin Chaud
Preschool, Primary    Chronicle    32 pp.
3/25    9781797223896    $17.99

“Old MacDonald had a farm” until a spaceship arrives and beams up his animals: “With a ZERP ZAP here, / and a ZERP ZAP there.” Now space alien Old MacMartian and his doglike pet have all those animals on their ship — with humorous results. Initially perplexed, the cow, pig, cat, and sheep proceed to wreak havoc in close quarters (“With a GLOOP GLOOP here / and a GLOOP GLOOP there / …Old MacMartian needs a bath”). After failed attempts at corralling the creatures, the exhausted would-be extraterrestrial farmer tries for sleep — but these sheep aren’t the counting type. Old MacMartian proceeds to expel this onboard barnyard back down to Earth, to both farmers’ relief. The humorous pencil and digital illustrations center goggle-eyed characters — earthlings with two eyes, extraterrestrials with three — with funny facial expressions recalling Sandra Boynton’s menagerie. Details on the spaceship, among all the cheerful chaos, will have listeners looking closely to track the destruction. “But they CLEANED UP here / and they CLEANED UP there,” and by the end, the Martian protagonist concludes, “IT’S NICE TO BE ALONE” with a loyal doglike sidekick and a lesson learned about alien abduction. ELISSA GERSHOWITZ

From the November 2025 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.