Baby Aliens Got My Teacher!

Pamela Butchart's Baby Aliens Got My Teacher is a giggly school mystery for 7 year olds about a grumpy teacher who has suddenly gone very, VERY nice.

What happens

Izzy tells the story, and she wants you to know straight away that she is NOT making this up. Her mum never listens to her. So she's telling you instead.

It starts on a Monday. Miss Jones drives past and soaks Izzy and Zach with a massive puddle (they end up in the spare "I-had-an-accident" clothes). Then she doesn't ask for a late note. Then she cancels maths. Miss Jones LOVES maths.

By Tuesday there's a pink teddy on her desk and the class are making Valentine cards. In October. By Wednesday she's sobbing at a film and leading a meditation session with the teddy.

So Izzy, Zach and Jodi start a list of everything that might be wrong with her. Then Zach remembers a film about an alien that wriggles into someone's ear and takes over. Could that explain it? It does to them!

What follows is a week of secret meetings in The Den (an old cupboard under the stairs with a kettle and no milk), an investigation at Jodi's very pink flat and a daring raid on the school office. Timid Maisie Miller, who faints at almost everything, ends up joining the gang.

Reading it is like sitting next to Izzy while she tells you everything at top speed. She wanders off on tangents all the time. A crisp shaped exactly like the lady upstairs. A man who dropped his peanuts to stop her rolling under a bus. Jodi's tantrums, known as JTs.

Her logic is completely bonkers and completely sure of itself, which is exactly why it's so funny.

There are small real things under the jokes too. Zach's mum and dad have split up and he doesn't like to talk about it. Izzy knows, and lets him make a card for his mum without teasing him.

If your reader loves a narrator who is absolutely certain she's right (and probably isn't), this is a great pick. Can a teacher just be in a good mood? Not according to Izzy.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, The Spy Who Loved School Dinners brings the four friends back. A very tall new girl arrives from France, Izzy is put in charge of looking after her, and it isn't long before she starts to wonder whether Mathilde is all she seems.