Dear Flyary

by Dianne Young, John Martz

One-eyed alien Frazzle recounts his flying adventures in a new journal (in alien vernacular, of course). He bighearts his little Model 7, but as time passes, it starts making strange sounds, and Frazzle -- pressured by friends and co-workers -- wonders if he should trade it in. One day, when it goes CLUNK in the middle of the flyway, it's clear something must be done. Youngsters will love the out-of-this-world illustrations depicting worlds rife with all manner of alien life. Even more an unexpected ending sure to delight careful readers.

Genres: Picture Books, Canada

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book to see the illustrations of John Martz, who had compiled a NYT crossword puzzle I liked. The book is a lot of fun, starring a kid with a giant green head containing one giant eyeball and four ears, plus a cast of diverse other characters. I don't have a clue what a kid would make of the equally inventive words of the story but I think 6-8 year olds (and adults) would enjoy it. After all if we elders weren't bothered by "twas brillig and the slithy toves..." why not this?

[babyhippoface · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frazzle, a young alien writes about all his adventures in his daily "flyary". When I first began reading I thought this might be helpful for teaching inference and context clues, as readers would have to read Frazzle's diary entries and figure out what all the new alien words meant. Dear Flyary, Gladdy dropday to me! Finally--old enough to have my own spaceship! First thing this waker, I went out and bought a brand new Model 7.... It's flixsome! Without too much difficulty, most kids could determine that "Gladdy dropday" was "Happy Birthday", "waker" was "morning", and "flixsome" was terrific or awesome or some other positive adjective.

But it just kept going and kept going and kept going and I grew very, very weary of it all. Before long, it just sounded like I was reading a MadLibs filled in with nonsense words.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frazzle is thrilled with his new spacecraft, and naturally, he rides it everywhere he can. He records his thoughts about the vehicle as it starts acting up. Over and over, the machine starts making strange sounds, prompting him to take it to the shop of Wurpitz Hoolo, who has two noses. Over and over, the spaceship starts to give him trouble and makes sounds such as "Hum-Piffle-Piffle Hum-Tick-Tick, Hum-Piffle-Piffle Hun-tick-Tick" (unpaginated). When he finally does get a new engine after the craft breaks down and he has to be towed, Frazzle misses the funny sounds the old engine made. Silly fun with Photoshop illustrations, but a bit hard to read because of the alien voice.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide if I want a snilkum or a snoogle.

[Jacqueline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confusing wording, weird story with art that was only so so.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars. The storyline was cute with a good ending, lots of fun pictures to look at, but the alien lingo was just a weeeeee bit over the top.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too "out there" for me. I found all of the alien lingo distracting from the story.

[Donalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Changing common words into nonsensical terms doesn't make a book good without an engaging story.