WHEN ANGUS MET ALVIN

The course of alien friendship never did run smooth.

Angus the alien is a bit unusual. In fact, he’s rather human, preferring his garden to rockets and laser guns. He likes peace and quiet. One day, a spaceship crashes in the middle of his lawn, and out jumps a raucous alien named Alvin. Readers know Alvin’s loud because he speaks in boldface type. “I’ve come to show you my special space skills,” Alvin announces. He turns on his jet boots and starts whizzing all around. Angus responds with a quieter skill: He twists his ears and a tuft of pink feathers sprouts from his head. Then Alvin behaves in a most ungracious manner, twisting his ears to produce scores of feathers and boastfully cartwheeling all around, stomping on Angus’s pansies. Alvin’s obsession with one-upmanship ends predictably in disaster, but Angus restores him to normal. To show his gratitude, he prepares a big feast for Angus before abruptly taking off; Angus isn’t sorry to see him go. Pickford’s pencil, acrylic and digital illustrations pop with humor and bright colors. The plot, however imaginative and well-tuned to the kinetic energy of the very young, is marred by the sour ending, making the book seem more like a string of one-liners than a story.

Children will enjoy the setup and the interactions, but the ending may well leave them cold.