Customer Reviews

The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(0)
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Louis Slobodkin is well known as an illustrator of children's books. He is less known as the author of this 1952 sci-fi masterpiece, the first in a series for ages 9-12, and once a staple in every library worth its salt. It's the gentle, wonder-full story of Eddie, a boy scout who spends summers on his grandma's farm, and his encounter with Marty from Martinea. The two become fast friends and travel the world in Marty's spaceship, disguised as a little green car and powered by secret power ZZZ. Exciting and easy to read, and drenched with Slobodkin's beguiling illustrations, here's a series kids will love to discover.

So why is it out of print? My copy is stamped "DISCARDED," which tells the sad tale of the days when imaginative books were cycled out of libraries in favor of "educational" ones. This was the first book in the series, others being "The Space Ship Returns to the Apple Tree," "Three- Seated Space Ship," "Round Trip Space Ship," "The Space Ship in the Park," and "The Space Ship Returns to the Apple Tree." The first three books were also reprinted as paperbacks and offered as a boxed set as The Amazing Space Ship Adventures Boxed Set in 1981. Until imagination again gets the upper hand and these books are reprinted, find them used at Amazon and discover Eddie's wonderful world.

This is the book that started my love of reading. It is about a space alien named Marty that crash landed on Earth and lost the secret power Z. With the help of his new Earth friend Eddie the search begins. Their funny adventures made it hard to put the book down. I even turned my light back on one night after I was supposed to be sleeping so I could keep reading. I have the first two books in the series and definately want to read the rest.

In the 1950's, I "discovered" the books in this series at my grammar school library by accident (sorry, no wonderful teacher story here.). A miracle they had a cool book like this since we had so few books in there. The title, pictures and the easy to read prose hooked me. So much so that I read it several times and even found the second book in the series - "The Space Ship Returns..." and read that a couple of times too.

As I grew older, I would tell people about these books - asking them to keep an eye out for me at used book sales. I even searched the Web and eventually found the entire series from a used book seller. I plan on sharing these books with the little ones in my family. And I hope twenty, thirty, forty or as in my case, fifty years from now, they will do the same.

I hope they get reprinted so more people can enjoy these fun books.

I just want to add my love of this book. I remember checking this book out of the library over and over again as a child. I'm 35 and for 25 years I've had memories come back to me from the wonders I imagined in this book. It made me LOVE books. When I imagine the fun of reading, this is the book that sticks out in my memory.

Slodbodkin's Marty and Eddie books were pretty much the only reason that kept me in the town's small library as a kid...I couldn't get enough of these books that I happened to find one day on the library shelves. During college, I failed to find any copies as I couldn't remember the author or the book title...the only name I remembered was "Marty" - a name too common for children's science fiction. I'd given up the search after failing to find them, even at the library of my childhood. Just recently, I remembered to look online (WWW is a wonderful thing) and finally found Marty and Slobodkin! I treasure these stories still (I'm 29), and remember small details that make me smile still during the day...the no-liquid showers and gadgets...only if I could have a supply of those little mini-pill meals! Dieting would be a breeze!

Reading this book as a six year old is one of my fondest memories. I'm am forty now and I would like to share this book with my children. The story of friendship is timeless. I can also remember laughing out loud and not wanting to put the book down! With the current interest in children's book in high gear, I think this would be a great addition to any child's library. PLEASE reprint this book!

I would love to use this book for a junior book discussion--the only problem is its not in print. This story is timeless. Please issue a reprint.

I first read this book when I was six years old...a favorite teacher ( second grade ) had given it to me as a parting gift. The story seemed to illustrate ( even to a child of 6 ) that some things, like friendship and loyalty will be there for you when you really need them, even from a million light-years away. In this time, when everyone seems to only care about themselves, I believe that these are values that our children ( and for some of us, grandchildren ) really need as much reinforcement in as they can possibly get. PLEASE bring this book out for a special reprint. I loved it very much.

I read this book and the rest of the series to my five year old son and we were both smitten. My son loved the timeless relationship between Eddie and his alien friend Marty. He even started wearing green pajamas to pretend he was marty! It's been over a year since we have read the series and my son still remembers them vividly. We checked them our through the local library and have been searching for our own copies ever since. Note to publishers: Please consider re-releasing this series. While it is wonderful to read the previous reviews, they are all about fond remembrances. In my home, in 1999, we have a living breathing child who took these books to bed with him every night.

I remember going to the library with my trusty library card as a kid. It was summer vacation and I wanted to read all I could. I seem to remember there were about 4 or 5 books by him, I read them all. I'm 42 years old and remember the illustrations vividly. I think they're wonderful books for children, something to get their imaginations going, to let them think there's alot more beyond earth. I want to read them to my nieces and nephews and can't believe they're out of print. A new generation needs these books...get the printing press fired up!!!!