Spacesnake

by Duncan Weller

On a little colony of asteroids, a Spacesnake fires up its rockets to scare the daylights out of the Asterians. Thinking the coast is clear, the Spacesnake shows its true colors by shedding its armor and sampling the delectable goodies from the Asterbake. When his plot against the Asterians is foiled, he broods alone in space until a small Asterian arrives for a friendly visit. Duncan Welter’s imaginative pen-and-ink artwork and playful text make this a fun romp through space for young readers.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 9, 2004

About the author

Duncan Weller is a writer and visual artist. He won two of Canada's top awards for his picture book, The Boy from the Sun.

Reviews

[Jeanine]

This book does have very intricate illustrations with lots of great details. However, the homogenous linework/inking makes those details hard to pick out (particularly on the asteroids). This is a shame considering how much thought went into them. I did like the minimal colour choice that included a metalic/pearlescent blue.

The plot was poor but relatively straightforward. It seems like there were MANY morals or social commentary being made, but not of them were made well. Even the characters that were introduced, never return. The motivation of the spacesnake seemed to be hunger, and this is only resolved in a strange disconnected way at the very end. It seems like the society really doesn't even have much of an arc to build on, but I did like like they felt many different emotions after the truth is revealed.

The first few pages of the book are very text-heavy and contain too many unnecessary details, however the tone is plesantly suspensful and interesting. The wordy story and detailed illustrations make this book most suitable for much older children and not good for groups.

[Gail]

Great Illustrations.
A bit wordy in parts but a good overall message.
Suprisingly the boy really enjoyed this one.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Maybe a little too much text here and there, but wow, what a positive message, "Always love people and use things, never use people and love things." Right off the bat, the story grips you and takes you on an adventure, albeit from the perspective of the bully mechanical snake. He is found out when he goes for some cookies, but just when you think the ending is lacklustre, sombre, and sad, the wordless ending gives an alternative view that redeems the bully snake. Don't be put off by the black and white. Children don't seem to even notice. The colourless backgrounds are fitting for the story. Crazy characters and detail abound.

[Tasneem Zafer]

"always love people and use things, Never use people and love things"
remarkably detailed drawings!! Me likey :D