THERE'S AN ALIEN IN MY LUNCHBOX!

Book characters wreak havoc in a classroom. A pale-skinned, bespectacled child brings a favorite storybook to school for show and tell; things go wrong immediately. The book's supernatural characters--a brown-skinned witch, a ghost, a green-skinned goblin, a dragon, and an alien--escape the book and create mischief. The alien leaps into the young narrator's lunchbox, while the witch gets into the child's gym bag before tying up the little one's shoelaces. Not to be outdone, the ghost gets stuck in the toilet and raises a stink in more ways than one. As show and tell approaches, the child is desperate to corral everyone back into the book and finally does, just in time. The child is initially reluctant to show the book off, wary of the creatures' behavior, but they're "WONDERFUL!" The other students love the book, and all ends well--or does it? This U.K. import presents a humorously over-the-top scenario that kids will find very amusing. The tale's premise--that books are inherently magical and exciting--is one that many readers will agree with, and the outlandish humor is entertaining indeed. The writing, however, is less effective. The adventure is narrated in clunky first-person verse by the protagonist. Nevertheless, children will chuckle over the frenetically busy, colorful illustrations and the droll portrayal of the various creatures. The teacher is brown-skinned; classmates are racially diverse; one child uses a wheelchair. A lively read that will have kids wondering what antics their own favorite characters might get up to. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.