I chose this book because Kaplan’s earlier book, Monsters Eat Whiny Children is so awesome.¹

And this one is awesome, too.

In this story, a more than distant relative comes to visit. I’m not sure what the little boy in this book dislikes the most about his relative… Perhaps it’s his personality, which reminds me of a nebishy somewhat elderly relative, complete with whines about his journey when he’s barely in the door, followed by an immediate long bout in the bathroom, and the subsequent kitchen binge in which the Martian eats everything in the kitchen, followed by parts of the kitchen itself.

Or perhaps the boy’s dislike emerges when the Martian cousin sleeps in the other bed in his room, steals his pillow (by guilting him into trading with him by talking about all the doctors he had seen about his neck stress). Or maybe it was when his cousin criticized his school outfit then, while the boy is at school, wears it himself and plays with all the boy’s toys.

Or could it be because it is his cousin’s fault that his parents invited all the relatives over to see him, forcing the boy to hide in the closet. “Other people’s coats make you feel so much safer than your own.”

Then to make things even worse, his parents force the boy to take the Martian to school with him, where he causes complete chaos.

And everything changes.

Why do I like these books so much? Is it because they are so irreverent?² Is it because they seem so normal – the dialogue, the behavior – until they clearly are not? Is it the cute little illustrations, in the vein of Harold and the Purple Crayon (book not stupid movie³) – or no, wait, is it New Yorker cartoons they remind me of? That seems more likely since Kaplan is a New Yorker cartoonist. I knew they seemed familiar…

And, oops, I didn’t buy this book. I just found a note inside the front cover from the publisher which brings back a memory of getting this book at one of the conferences – I was going to guess the one in 2016 except the copywrite on the book is 2013 so now I’m completely confused since we didn’t have a conference in 2013.

And here’s the best Library of Congress summary ever:

Summary: Teddy is not looking forward to a visit from Cousin Irv, who comes from Mars and likes to vaporize things.

Can’t top that.

No wait, the dedication: This is for all of us who are from Mars.

Hmmmm……

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1. Have I written about MEWC yet? I can’t remember. If I haven’t, I should. Maybe tomorrow. And when did people start referring to books with long titles by their initials? Was it with LOTR? And when did I? ↩︎
2. Invoking the memory of Lemony Snicket telling off the intrusive mother who wouldn’t let him converse with her child at the book signing. ↩︎
3. Please, Hollywood, please stop doing this with children’s books. Please. ↩︎