Sardine in Outer Space 5

“It’s never too late to pick up this series.” - Booklist

She’s a girl.

She’s a space-pirate.

She’s Sardine – and she’s back!

With four Sardine books now published in the U.S., our favorite red-headed space pirate (about whom Kirkus said: “Resistance is futile” in a starred review) has a growing number of young fans. Eleanor in Brooklyn told us, “I like it that they live on a spaceship.” Toby, age seven, wrote to say: “I like all the tricks Sardine thinks up.” And Jane in California demanded “More, please!”

Now appearing in her fifth collection of ten side-splitting space adventures is Sardine, her stories told in engaging, scribbly artwork by Emmanuel Guibert.

Children's Literature

Sardine travels with her uncle, Captain Yellow Shoulder, a pirate who saves children from a nasty person called Supermuscleman. The book has twelve exciting chapters, each with a separate adventure where the heroes battle the villains and come away victors. The first place they land is the dark side of the moon where the inhabitants are too shy to come out of their homes. Sardine and her uncle then find the other side of the moon, where everyone parties. What happens when the shy ruler meets the beautiful party-going President? Will they get married? Next Captain Yellow Shoulder and Sardine go on to a place where a Scamcorder zaps people and makes them hairy with pimples and big ears. Just when you think it cannot get any worse, the travelers continue on to find a school master to teach them punctuation. They get on a rocket to take them on vacation, but it takes them to jail, and after that, they have to solve a murder in space. I am out of breath and that was just the first half of the book! The lovable tiny Sardine usually ends up saving the day in the adventures. Children will appreciate the graphic form of the book and will share it with their friends, and together will laugh at some of the outrageous situations. Vocabulary like "go cool your heels," "whippersnappers," "atrocious," and "la poo poo" add to the entertainment. Reviewer: Kathie M. Josephs

Emmanuel Guibert is one of the most talented comics creators in France today. As well as Sardine in Outer Space, his works include Alan's War, an extraordinary biography of his late from Alan Cope, an American WWII verteran, and The Photographer (with Didier Lefevre), a graphic novel about the war in Afghanistan.