A is for Alien by Charles Gould - Book Review

Honest to mythical-god, I thought this book was an online gag. But it turns out that A is for Alien is a for real Little Golden Book.

I did not buy this for myself. A friend of ours gave it to me for Christmas. Because this friend has both a sense of humor about, as well as a heartfelt understanding and respect for, my monster-centric interests and hobbies.

This book was clearly written for parents or guardians that want some irony laden in-joke amusement for themselves when reading to their children. A is for Alien manages to follow the general storyline of Alien, albeit without all the gore and scares, and turns it into something safe and silly enough for an all ages bedtime reading session.

There are some words and phrases that will be a tad advanced for toddlers and beginning readers, though. No one in that age demographic is sure to understand, appreciate, or benefit from learning that X is for Xenomorph. But an attentive and caring parent or guardian can, and should, make it work.

While reading this I wondered how the late Gene Siskel, who once threw a memorable hissy fit over the Alien toys released by Kenner in 1979, would have reacted to learning that an R-rated monster movie would become fodder for a weird and whimsical "children's" book.

Imaging that is almost as chuckle inducing as reading A is for Alien was.