E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

by Jim Thomas (Adapter), Kim Smith (Illustrator)

When E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released in theaters thirty-five years ago, the film enchanted millions of kids and surpassed Star Wars to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. Now the blockbuster movie is an illustrated storybook, with colorful retro-style illustrations courtesy of Kim Smith. It's a story you can't help but love: After E.T. is stranded on Earth, he takes refuge with Elliott, a lonely boy in need of a friend . . . and together they find a way to send E.T. back home. Along the way, they learn important lessons about courage, friendship, and the power of the imagination. It's the perfect read-along story for children, their parents, and millions of E.T. fans everywhere!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Science Fiction, Pop Culture, Friendship, Space

40 pages, Hardcover

Published October 31, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

The iconic scene of E.T. still wearing a ghost costume whilst him and Elliot fly over the suburban neighbourhood totally makes this a perfect Halloween read, as the whole story is set around the end of October.

I grew up absolutely loving this movie as a kid and whilst my daughter is a little young to watch it, this brilliant picture book is a perfect way to introduce little ones to the Extra-Terrestrial.

It perfectly captures the essence of friendship and hits all the iconic moments that makes this a memorable classic.
The illustrations themselves are also perfect as they summon up all the amazing moments in the 1982 classic.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations!

[Zaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I've a trauma with ET because I nearly shivered each time he was on the page. The story was well told, wasn't difficult to follow, even if I saw the movie a long time ago. The difficult parts were treated in a nice easy way that never really showed danger, so it can be a good introduction to the story for impressionnable kids. I liked a lot the illustrations and colors, the characters were cute and each picture was really pleasant to look at. Even ET wasn't totally scary.

[Hany Adeeb · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4RHC...

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The girlies and I all loved this. The pictures made me want to laugh and cry and brought back a lot of memories of the movie, which my girls want to see but I haven't decided if I'm going to let them watch it yet. I think that it might be too scary and sad for them. The sad doesn't bother me so much, we can handle that, but especially with my little one I worry about the scary factor. If I'm not mistaken, I was carried out of the movie theater crying as a little girl. Such a great re-telling of the movie, and so appropriate because while it told the whole story, it left out the scary parts, and also glossed over the sad...I actually explained to the girls the parts that were left out, and why I thought they would find them upsetting to watch. We will definitely read this one again, I'm so glad I splurged and ordered a copy for our home library.

[Pía Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5
Antes que lo lean, deben tener en cuenta que es un libro basado en la historia de la película, y no un libro calco sobre la película.
Siento que el trabajo de los autores y del ilustrador es hermoso. Cada página te permite recordar los momentos vividos por Elliot y ET de la mano de Spilberg. Es un libro demasiado precioso, les servirá mucho para introducir a los niños al mundo cinematográfico con una historia tan hermosa como especial.

[Apatricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

as ilustrações fazem o livro!

[Aude · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai vu le film E.T pour la première fois, il y a plus de 20 ans. Cet extra-terrestre a marqué mon enfance. Je vous laisse imaginer combien j’étais heureuse de le retrouver grâce à ce livre. Pleins de beaux souvenirs ont refait surface. J’ai souris plus d’une fois durant ma lecture. C’est le livre idéal pour faire découvrir E.T à la nouvelle génération.
J’ai adoré ❤️

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Ridiculously adorable adaptation and the illustrations are unique yet capture the essence of the film. I don't know how anyone could read this without a smile and grin on their face throughout every single page. Love. -Sara G.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for a challenge where I needed to read a book inspired by the highest grossing movie the year i was born. This was such cute drawings and a great nostalgic look back into that movie that captured everyone's hearts.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations.

[Zoey the Squirrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just liked it. I want to watch the movie

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyler loves it!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esme approved

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ridotto. Fedele. Fantascientifico.

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm obsessed with the illustrating! I need all of the POP Classics.

[Bryan L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las ilustraciones están re hermosas. La historia es la versión simplificada de la película. Icónico ET con su disfraz de fantasma.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely short version of the movie, and doesn't really do it justice. Though, reading this book has made me want to watch the movie again now.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So adorable! One of my all time favorite movies beautifully illustrated and broken down to a wonderful children’s book.

[Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute though a little sterilized compared to the movie.

[Tabi Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyright 2017. Genre Fantasy-fiction. I liked the children curiosity about the unknown goblin/E.T. I would use this book in my future classroom to teach about friendship, curiosity, and technology.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute illustrated version of ET. I feel like just about everyone is familiar with the story of ET - an extra-terrestrial who gets stranded on earth. A young boy picks him up and helps him find his way home. The movie was zany, the book was sweetly nostalgic.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The words aren't particularly clever for this picture book version of E.T. but the illustrations are gorgeous!

[Gustavo Hernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro bellísimo. Un clásico del cine convertido en un libro álbum para toda la familia.

[Angel Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was honestly pretty fantastic.
The art is great, the writing is cool and simple and the rhythm is quite good. My daughter loved it.

[AquaMoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

When my parents took me to see E.T. in the theater, I wasn't much older than Drew Barrymore when she played Elliot's little sister. And the movie scared the living $#!% out of me. I don't remember why. Just that it did. I had nightmares for weeks! I don't even recall anything about the story. Just that it was, without a doubt, the most terrifying thing I'd encountered up until that point. Granted, I didn't have much experience to build on.

I've since built my scary things repertoire: I went through a Stephen King phase, for crying out loud! And when I was 13-14, my BFF and I watched every single horror movie the town video store had to offer. Made possible because her cousin worked there and looked the other way when we under-agers checked out R-Rated things. I freaking love The X Files!!! I'm sure I could handle a PG-Rated alien film meant for families.

But my E.T. experience was SO traumatic, in fact, that I have avoided any and all contact with anything to do with this movie since. As of writing this review, I am 42. So that's quite a few decades worth of fear, likely complicated by little kid memory of that fear. And we all know how memories can be embellished and even faulty. Just look at all the people who swear by Mandela Effect (it is neither Berenstain or Berenstein, but Barenstine, as in Bear + Stine, as in Ben Stine as in R.L. Stine, but, you know, with bears. Because that's what makes sense).

But recalling how downplayed and cutesy the Back to the Future book was, I figured this retelling meant for VERY young children would be a good way to reintroduce myself to E.T. and maybe even get over this (far too) long-standing childhood terror. Still, I approached it with much hesitation (faster heartbeat, sweaty palms, all the feelings of a potential panic attack). But I privately and unmercifully told myself to grow a pair and cracked the book...

I'm pleased to admit I found nothing inside to be afraid of. To the book's credit, it is made for a VERY young audience, so there would be nothing even remotely scary inside. At least there shouldn't be. And I actually ended up enjoying the story about a boy trying to help his alien friend get back home. And the illustrations were nothing short of adorable!

Am I ready to truly face my fear head-on by watching the actual MOVIE version of E.T.?

Not remotely. And I probably never will, in all likelihood.

Besides, I know the story from this book. And that's good enough for me.

p.s. I would rather face Freddy, Jason, Michael Meyers, Scream, Chuckie, AND Jigsaw all at once than I would E.T. Any day. Any time.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this children’s book as it was just like the movie that I loved. The illustrations were cartoon in nature and as I read it, I smiled as I could remember seeing this novel at the movie theatre so many years ago. The author tried to include as many of the highlights of the movie that he could and I thought the flow of the novel was great as I didn’t feel that I was missing anything important to make me have to stop reading. I loved the details in the illustrations, they weren’t too cumbersome and little E.T. was cute with his huge eyes and his little fingers.

Elliott discovers something out in the shed and it didn’t look like a coyote. His story of a goblin doesn’t sit well with his family so the next night, using candy he entices the creature into his home while outside some individuals are searching for something using strange equipment. I can hear Gertie scream as she is introduced to Elliott’s goblin and the illustration was perfect for this part in the novel. The story continues with the globe, his solar system model, and his mother’s search of Elliott’s room where E.T. is hidden amongst all his stuffed toys (excellent illustration). There is this anticipation as the story continues as the individuals outside continue to draw closer to Elliott house and this suspense continues as I read, the individuals creeping closer and closer. Gertie dresses E.T. up as they played and she teaches him how to talk, such great movie scenes and the illustrations do a wonderful job also. This really is a fantastic novel, one that makes you relive the movie and one that brought smiles to my face. This is definitely a novel that I will be purchasing for myself. I think kids will love looking at its illustrations over and over again and it will be one that they will love to hear repeated. This novel and my Home Alone children’s novel will be hits! I think now I need to watch the movie, I really do!

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the classic 80’s movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, this timeless story is now in the form of a uniquely-illustrated children’s book!

This book is a direct adaptation of the film and is aimed at young readers, with a few minor changes from the movie. The story tells the tale of young Elliot, who discovers what he thinks to be a goblin living in his backyard. He lures the creature into his house with candy and quickly develops a friendship with E.T., who is stranded on Earth and wants to get back home. Elliot, his sister, Gertie and their brother, Michael band together to help E.T. get back to his planet and to hide E.T. from the government, who wants to capture and study him.

The most appealing draw of the book is to see how the author and illustrator depict certain iconic scenes from the movie, including E.T. and Gertie playing dress-up and Elliot riding his bike across the night sky with E.T. perched on the handlebars. I think adult fans of the movie will get a kick out of reading this to their kids, and that the kids will enjoy this fantastical story as well.

Dan R. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Heather Fonseca · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child, E.T. was one of my favorite movies to watch. It was exciting to find that this movie was portrayed through children's literature. E.T. was a short name for "Extraterrestrial," which is what a young boy named Elliot called this "goblin" from another universe. E.T. was discovered, one night, as Elliot walked outside to a noise and footprints coming from the shed. The friendship between Elliot and E.T. was created through candy trails, creating a communication device with household supplies, healing and "ouch," amd soaring through the sky on a bicycle ride. The illustrations and words of this story create a summary of what "The Extra-Terrestrial" Story was about.
One of my favorite expressions from this story was, "E.T. phone home," because it was comical as a child. The ending touches my heart as well, as E.T. is about to return home and says, "I'll be right here!," as he points to Elliots heart.

This text can be used to teach compare and contrast by taking elements of the movie of story. The grades for this assignment would work best for grades 3-5. The story can be read to students as early as preschool. This would be a perfect story to read for the theme, "Out of this World," as we talk about aliens and the planets.

[SBF · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sweet storybook accomplished something I never thought possible: it made E.T. adorably cute. I first saw the movie when I was around 7-8 years old, and while I liked it and watched our VHS tape several times during my childhood, I was always rather afraid of E.T. (though the flying bikes and final scene made the movie worth the scares). This book would have helped me a lot. Here, the illustrations are beautifully done, giving everyone huge round expressive eyes, and featuring breathtaking backgrounds. The story is streamlined to suit the shorter format: it skips the psychic connection between E.T. and Elliott, E.T.'s death/recovery, and all the family drama. The focus is on E.T. and Elliott. It makes the government officials/scientists who try to take E.T. away a little less scary (as a child, the adults in the hazmat suits keeping E.T. and Elliott apart scared me worse than the alien), but they're still the villains. This is a lovely companion book to my copy of the Home Alone storybook and I look forward to next year's release in this series, Back to the Future! Maybe Ghostbusters or Jurassic Park next, or the Princess Bride, Karate Kid, or Voyage Home?