posted on 10 Jul 2025

The World’s Worst Alien by Alice Primmer, illustrated by Fred Blunt

The subject of alien worlds has always been a popular one in children’s books, but this one is a bit different. We learn that the planet Earth has actually been created by an alien as a school project and that she needs to do some fixing, because humans are ruining everything. The alien gives us a whistle stop tour through what she describes as the rather boring early years of the planet, she moves swiftly through the evolution of life where ‘things got a bit more interesting’, onto the second page where she explains drastic environmental factors resulting in the appearance and then disappearance of dinosaurs who were definitely ‘the coolest thing to appear on any planet.’ As a result, she had been confident to get top marks for the assignment. All was going so well until the humans appeared and started to create absolute havoc.

Before going any further with this curious information, she explains that the notion of time is very complicated and relative. She has to find a way to impress her teachers because the project is due to be handed in on the following day! Fortunately, one night on her home planet equals roughly one month in Earth time, so she might just be able to make the necessary changes successfully. After doing some research she considers getting attention and influence via politicians, then religion and finally via celebrities who seem to be very popular with humans, but finally settles on becoming a Youtube influencer because she notes that most humans seem to be watching screens for much of the day. 

Using her parents’ ‘old physical manifestation calibrator which they sometimes got out at parties’ she assumes a relevant form and appears in London using their old trans-dimensional transporter with the aim of infiltrating a school as an eleven- year- old girl called Sky. She ends up in a Year 6 classroom where it is assumed that she is an international exchange student from Antartica. She is particularly baffled by the Maths lesson and confused about how much reasonable time to spend in the toilet - maybe three hours is about right? I liked her analysis of school assembly:

‘From what I could tell, the idea behind them was to get as many pupils as possible into the same room at once, to make it easier to bore them all at the same time’.

Her new found friend Zana is extremely irritating and talkative, but very good at creating excuses for the new girl’s odd behaviour. When she realises that Sky has nowhere to live, she immediately blames an incompetent teacher for not sorting out suitable accommodation. She is also clever and knowledgeable about how to set up a Youtube channel. When Zana’s hospitable parents offer to take her into their home, Sky has to learn how to eat human food, make conversation and explain away awkward social moments such as leaking slime from her body. 

She decides that the only way to save her planet project is to find a way to bring back the dinosaurs, but this is a difficult plan to put into practice. You will need to read the story for yourself to appreciate how the two friends wrestle with the idea and have to make some compromises along the way. For instance, when Sky tries to persuade Zana that they need to launch a missile into space to blow up another planet to make the plan work, Zana is unconvinced. 

I strongly recommend this unusual and funny story that reminded me of ‘Mork and Mindy’, a 1970s US sitcom with Robin Williams playing an affable but puzzled alien visiting Earth. Like him, Sky gets into many scrapes as she tries to navigate her way through what seems to be a very peculiar world. It will encourage readers to reflect on how many humans take the planet for granted treat it in a very cavalier way. It is also good at questioning things that we take for granted and looking at different perspectives. Most importantly, it has a compelling plot with comic book style illustrations throughout to add interest to the range of characters.

Available now from Walker Books, you will be able to get from your local independent bookshop - who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Karen Argent

July 2025