Synopsis
Explores how and why plants and animals enter ecosystems to which they are not native, as well as the consequences of these invasions for other animals, plants, and humans.
Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz - Children's Literature
Aliens are not just people from other countries or creatures from outer space. They are plants and animals that come into an ecosystem from outside to upset the balance of nature. Although there have always been such changes on earth, the speed and ease of travel today makes such invasions much more frequent and likely. Batten clearly outlines several of the more drastic destructions that have occurred either by accident or on purpose in Australia, Hawaii, and here in the United States, including starlings, the gypsy moth, fire ants, killer bees, zebra mussels, caulerpa algae, kudzu, and cane toads. Plants and animals depicted are delineated along the bottoms of the pages. The final page is an appeal to readers to help protect the local habitat from invaders. Doyle's concern for natural history is made attractive in her detailed, naturalistic double-page scenes, which incorporate the alien forms into native environment. Sometimes three or more species interact, although never graphically, while kudzu is just shown inundating the landscape. The wealth of information is completed in the Glossary. 2003, Peachtree Publishers,