Lunchbox and the Aliens [Paperback]

Bryan W. Fields (Author), Kevan Atteberry (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Lunchbox felt odd. He wondered how he had known how to open the place where all the yummy stuff was kept. He wondered why he seemed to know so much about these strange animals he was with. He wondered how he knew he was wondering.

Lunchbox is your average basset hound: round, floppy, and not too bright . . . until he’s abducted by aliens. Then he suddenly becomes a lean, mean, garbage-machine-making, uh, machine. Frazz and Grunfloz, the hapless aliens who abducted Lunchbox, have set him the task of converting Earth’s trash into froonga, a food adored by aliens and dogs alike. Will Lunchbox and his boy, Nate, solve the world’s garbage crisis and form the first interplanetary alliance? Or will the fate of the whole solar system come to rest on whether Lunchbox can ever learn to catch a Frisbee?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6–Lunchbox is a lovable basset hound, Nate is his boy, and Frazz and Grunfloz are two not-so-bright aliens on a mission to find their food, called froonga. On their travels, they discover that Earth is full of the raw material to make the snack: garbage. The aliens abduct the pup and subject him to their mental-enhancement helmet, enabling him to find garbage and convert it to froonga once he is back home. In their race to create a froonga machine and not blow up the world in the process, Nate and Lunchbox have several run-ins with parents, bullies, the crooked mayor, and the dogcatchers. The author weaves a delightful story full of alien names and places, intermixed with some shady characters and a resourceful boy. The tale is so much fun that readers might not notice that its underlying theme is about the mounting garbage problem in the U.S. The pencil-drawn cartoons throughout enhance the fun. The fast-moving plot and satisfying conclusion make this a good choice for reluctant readers, science-fiction fans, or any child who enjoys a good book about a boy and his dog.–Cynde Suite, Bartow County Library System, Adairsville, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“The fast-moving plot and satisfying conclusion make this a good choice for reluctant readers, science-fiction fans, or any child who enjoys a good book about a boy and his dog.”—School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Square Fish; First Edition edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312561156
• ISBN-13: 978-0312561154
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #869,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bryan W. Fields was born in Missouri and has moved at least twenty times, living in eight different U.S. states and in Japan. He grew up with basset hounds and saw a UFO when he was ten.

He's worked as a hamster cage cleaner, busboy, bellhop, burger-flipper, trumpet player, factory drone, stage manager, business manager, advertising copywriter, editor, ghostwriter, and teacher.

He has been writing basset hound stories ever since the fifth grade. Lunchbox and the Aliens, the story of a basset hound abducted by a pair of clueless extraterrestrials, has been featured in the Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs and received the award for "Best Juvenile Book of 2006" from the Oklahoma Writers Federation.

He lives in Aubrey, Texas, with his wife and four of their five children, along with an ancient rabbit and a mentally unstable cat. He is still negotiating for a basset hound.

Visit his website at www.bryanwfields.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bassett to the rescue!, October 10, 2006

By 

Esperanza del Sol (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunchbox and the Aliens (Hardcover)

This charming book tells how a loveable bassett hound named Lunchbox saves the world from alien interference and helps out his boy's family at the same time. The book alternates between earth and a spaceship with two amusing aliens who remind me of a few people I've known. The author's humor is just right for the age group and his writing has a wry touch that adults will be amused by as well. The author has a great ear for conversation and he also knows what matters to boys and girls. I highly recommend it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!, November 19, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Lunchbox and the Aliens (Hardcover)

This is a great book! Note to parents: If your kid likes books and spends too much time in front of the TV, get them this book! True, it has weird, made up words, like rurfroo and plookie, but that's why it's a challenging, but interesting book. It's funny and the author had a great sense of what he wanted when he wrote it: a book kids and adults alike will love. Oh, and here is how to pronounce Schwozzwort: Skwoz-wort. Yeah, I know, it's a tough word to spell and pronounce right without the author saying it straight to you, which is why that is there. But anyway, GET THIS BOOK! KIDS AND ADULTS LOVE IT!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect!, February 4, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Lunchbox and the Aliens (Hardcover)

This book balances the fine line between good for kids and good for adults. The author makes the story serious and funny at the same time, with an example of the fact the aliens are running out of food and they have to depend on a fat basset hound who isn't exactly the sharpest tack in the bunch, until he gets turned into a genius that could make Bill Gates look like a dummy except for the fact that he can't talk... The story moves along fluently with Nate, the owner having to help Lunchbox, the dog, build a machine, make the aliens happy, and get his parents to understand what is going on.