Space Alien at Planet Dad

Jake has a blast every Saturday at ‘Planet Dad’. His father’s undivided attention means there’s plenty of time for building space stations, laser-bean fights, intergalactic missions and fun meals together. So when Dad’s new partner appears on the scene (brilliantly illustrated as a space alien), Jake rebels against this new invader. He blasts the alien with tantrums and protests until eventually it disappears into a black hole, leaving son and forlorn father alone together. Jake’s dad tries a new strategy and the following Saturday, they ‘bump into’ the alien at the Space Museum. At first, Jake keeps up his frosty force-field, but as the day progresses, he starts to show signs of warming to this new invader in his life. The alien knows lots of cool facts about Space and fight’s Jake’s corner with a retina-blasting plasma glare when a big girl is rude to him. Little by little, Jake forgets his force-field. The story concludes with Jake accepting that the ‘alien’ is a permanent part of his dad’s life, which is nicely portrayed with Jake bringing in a book about Space to share.