Earth to Audrey

by Susan Hughes

Overview

Audrey comes into Ray’s life like an earthbound star. Everything about her is a bit far-out. And she’s always in her own little world. So Ray decides that this unusual girl who has dropped into his neighborhood for the summer must be an alien. As they become friends, Audrey takes Ray on a journey of discovery — one that enables him to see his own planet in a new light. Soon, Ray can’t imagine life on Earth without her. Susan Hughes’ poignant, gently humorous text and Stéphane Poulin’s evocative, heartfelt illustrations capture the long childhood summer of discovery in a small town and depict a friendship that changed the lives of two lonely dreamers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781525312090
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	03/01/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	156 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Award-winning author Susan Hughes has written more than 30 books for children of all ages, including Sounds All Around, Walking for Water, Walking in the City with Jane, Earth to Audrey and No Girls Allowed. She lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario.

Stéphane Poulin is a children’s book illustrator and artist. He has won both the Governor General’s Award and the Mr. Christie’s Book Award for his work. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 1-3-Ray thinks that his new neighbor might be an alien. The girl is staying with her father for the summer and Ray is fascinated with her strange pursuits, such as training grasshoppers and "just lying down looking up." With a free spirit, antennae-like pigtails, and a fondness for kooky-patterned dresses, Audrey breathes a fresh perspective into Ray's sleepy small town. Together, they spend their days "seeing the Earth for the first time, new and astonishing." Musing on the complexities of the universe, they sit still "for a long time, trying to feel the Earth move." Poulin's lush, evocative oil paintings feature naively drawn characters that reflect the mysterious suggestions of the text. A cleverly written look at the powers of friendship and creative thinking.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Catching sight of his summer neighbor sticking her face into a stream, a lad decides that she must be a space alien, and hastens to make her acquaintance. Poulin reinforces young Ray's notion by casting Audrey with dreamy eyes, brightly patterned clothes and wildly crooked red braids-but provides clues to her odd behavior with glimpses of her father welding sculpture in the garage, and of exuberantly painted walls and doors in her house. Following his new friend's lead, Ray begins to see his ordinary world with new eyes-learning to appreciate the many shades of green all around, for instance. Their faces modeled and polished like carved puppets, the two occupy an idyllic small-town setting, with visual references to the art of Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth adding both a sense of timelessness and a hint of mystery. At summer's end, though Audrey and her family supposedly drive off in a highly decorated minivan, Ray keeps an eye out for clues that she's still somewhere close. A sweet celebration of summer, of pleasantly unpredictable new friends and of the pleasures of taking fresh looks at everyday things. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Earth to Audrey begs to be revisited again and again, not only for its superior design and eloquence, but also for its celebration of the extraordinary moments of ordinary life.

Quill &Quire

(Poulin’s illustrations) illuminate both the humor and the wonder in this deliciously non-sentimental picture book

Earth to Audrey begs to be revisited again and again, not only for its superior design and eloquence, but also for its celebration of the extraordinary moments of ordinary life.

From the Publisher

(Poulin’s illustrations) illuminate both the humor and the wonder in this deliciously non-sentimental picture book

The Toronto Star Starred Review