E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet

by William Kotzwinkle

Weekly Reader Books Presents an Illustrated Novel for Young E.T. - The Book of the Green Planeta new novel by William Kotzwinkle based on a story by Steven Spielberg, illustrations by David WiesnerPublished by Berkley Books, New York, copyright 1985, 89 pages.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy, Aliens, Literature

272 pages, Paperback

Published January 29, 2002

About the author

William Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Books, and a Book Critics Circle award nominee. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember much about this book because I read it when I was about ten years old. I think I liked it as much as the first E.T. novel.
All I can remember is that it takes place on his home planet, and he's like a biologist/rocket scientist? Because I recall that he builds a ship out of some kind of TURNIP!?
I wish I could find this book again, just to see......

[Thomas Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know ET was a 1000 years old and had a doctorate in Botany? Neither did I, until I finished the book. The untold story which picks up right at the end of the film shows that the conclusion wasn't as magical as it was made out to be. ET returns home as a sort of pariah, and the story picks up as he tries to return home before spatial distortion loses Elliot for him forever. His travails are best reported by the re-occuring phrase "We're creamed", which the diminutive alien learned on Earth. The story is much better than it sounds, and you'll be rooting for ET the whole time.



Oh, and if you picked it up for the purported Star Wars tie-in, let me save you the trouble. It is mentioned in a single line with about a half-dozen other nouns, so small as to be inconsequential.

[Bryan D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have started this many times in my life and never got far into it.
Thankfully I've done it and the book is a hard one to get into, we're out of our comfort zone, new planets, no humans and the Flopglopple makes one go oooh what the hell?
And then the unlikiest thing happened, I grew fond of ole floppy, the writing became a delightful well written science fiction story which started to feel like The Wizard of Oz (only saw the film, never read the book).
The genius of the book is when you discover what E.T is up to and how he plans to accomplish it, the ending made my inner child punch the air with his fist and left me very pleased indeed.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read this beloved book from my childhood for the first time in at least 30 years and it mostly holds up. The Earth parts are very 1985, but in an amusing Dave Barry-esque way, and the Green Planet parts are imaginative and funny and sometimes transcendent. There's a bit of nostalgia in my 5-star rating but not as much as you might think.

[Bee Ostrowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this shortly after it came out, when I was 11, and most of what I had remembered was the storyline about Elliott's first crush.

Which is probably because it's the only lucid part of the entire novella. The rest of it, my God, makes the fever-dream absurdity of a Douglas Adams story look by comparison like a mundane account of a boring man's least surprising day.

What the heck did I just re-read nearly 40 years later?!

The rapid introduction of absurd plant-like organisms, crystalline entities, and ancient flying robots, each with a more Scrabble-handful name than the last, is the metronome beat that drives the Green Planet story, a tale that obeys only a certain amount of dream logic and then leaps well beyond.

L. Frank Baum would recognize a kindred spirit in William Kotzwinkle, and if the latter is foolish enough to spend his eighties reading reviews, I hope he'll appreciate the compliment.

[Matt Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book at a used book store while visiting my friend in Grand Rapids, MI. I didn't initially have much desire to read it, but it was too bizarre of a find to pass up. More of a "Bet you didn't know this existed" type of purchase than anything. Eventually, after watching the movie again, I decided to see what this book had to offer.

While I liked the concepts of seeing things from ET's perspective and seeing what it was like on his home planet, the gimmick wore off fairly quick for me.

My other issue with this book is how little Elliot seemed to care about ET after he'd gone. The whole fascination with the first movie was that this boy had an extremely rare opportunity to befriend an alien, something people (including the scientist in the movie) have dreamed of for countless years. Elliot seems to have gotten over the whole experience, while ET (who turns out to be several hundred years old and has traveled across planets/dimensions) is still desperately trying to keep in touch with Elliot. How does a young boy forget so easily what had such a profound effect on an alien who's experienced so many years and planets?

Overall, it was worth the read, but not something I'd likely read again.

[Cormacjosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful sequel to the film E.T. which details life on E.T.'s native planet with all its muppet like life forms, and his efforts to return to earth to be once again with Elliot and his family. It is, so far as I know the only authorized sequel to E.T. that there has ever been. Published originally in 1985, I read it once "Back in the day" and re read this edition printed in 2002 and purchased in 2005 during Pennsic XLVII in 2018. A pleasant return to childhood and it had been of course so long since my first reading that the adventure was almost entirely new to me. Highly recommended as light vacation reading especially for its positive and cheerful message a trait which can still thankfully be the hallmark of good children's literature. I would very definitely put this up there with the expected classics.

[Aron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whereas the first book in the series seemed to target adults looking for a light story, this second installment felt more like an extra-long children’s book. E.T.’s home planet is fittingly known as the green planet or the garden planet, and his role as a somewhat-renowned botanist is a fitting touch. The variety of fantastical plants is amusing, as are the many methods our hero uses to coax them to fuller growth. It reminded me a bit of the fantastical Xanth series, which I devoured around ages 10-15. I could definitely see reading or gifting this to a child (or gifting to an adult) who was seriously into E.T., but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the first one.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

a fascinating curiosity but not a great book

[Liisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute. Love ET.
I thought it was the original book. Didn’t realize it was ET on his own planet with his alien plants !! 💚

[Paxton Holley · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's weird. It's bizarre. It's not really anything like the movie. It exists, and you can read it.

[Jackie Lamport · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent but a bit anticlimactic. Very imaginative but little plot.

[Lee Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a strange journey. With all the weird made-up words it felt like a strange Dr. Seuss vibe science fiction.

[Clint Hannah-Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously I didn't go into this expecting it to be a literary masterpiece. I did want it to be fun! That was often asking too much. Wandering nonsense through a planet completely dominated by plants could be fun, but a consistently sad overtone of E.T. wanting to go back to earth and failing miserably made this a surprisingly sad slog. Fun in a way it exists, but a real let down.

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 2 out of 5]

ET is out here being a cockblock instead of a wingman

Honestly I don’t know why reviews here say this is a kids book. Ya? Maybe

It’s weird, boring and the characters feel like bad versions of the film characters

[tam tam]

what do you do when moby dick is done

[Andy Oerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

E.T. returns home and quickly decides to head back to Earth in a spaceship he makes out of a giant turnip.

Not as much fun as it sounds.

[Gergő Vámosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome. Really entertaining and thrilling at some parts.

I think it was the book I read the most times when I was about 8 years old. I even had my Mom make me a stuffed figure of E.T's home planet companion - well, at least the way I imagined the little jelly-like fella.

Fun fact: I never ever saw the original story, I only read part 1. in a comic book-style adaptation made from stills from the movie and I never really liked it. Oddly somehow nobody had it on VHS when I was a kid I knew and by the time I started to frequent the video store, I lost interest. This one, the sequel tho is filled with exotic locations inhabited by so many so amazing and funny creatures it makes me smile even now, 30 years later. I remember it had move my imagination so much... I'd say it is a must-read for anyone who likes or liked sci-fi as a kid.

SPOILER: Forests of jumping streets... Cities inhabited by droids... Forgotten god-like creatures living in banishment in underground caves... Talking plants with superpowers! SPACESHIPS! Attempted grand theft spaceship!!! A spaceship made out of a giant turnip for intergalactic escape!!! I want to read it again. I want to go back...

[Taaya]

DNF - close to nothing makes sense about this book. Maybe that's because I was trying to read the German translation, maybe the original isn't as weird, but... While the story itself seems to be enjoyably slow and quiet, I could not get the slightest grasp on the emotional level. If the species is so soft and full of love, why are they shunning ET? If they all wanted to go home so badly, why are they just throwing out ET, without making a real stop on their home world? If ET can communicate with any sort of plant, why does he still not know anything about humans? And all their procedures seem to be normal for him, but they are incomprehensible for humans and so the reader has no chance to ever understand what the heck is going on.

I read a fourth of this book and when thinks still didn't get any clearer, when the worldbuilding kept contradicting itself, I gave up. No idea who thought this might be a book for kids. I'm an adult, skilled at reading sophisticated, stick in the butt type scholarly texts, and still THIS is harder to read.

[Frank Mongelluzzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wanted to know what happened to ET after he left earth or Elliot for that matter then this is the book for you. This book has been out since 1985 I just discovered it's existence and now after 28 years of wondering I now know the answer. We do get to meet people from ET's planet including Bonaticus (Who you all have met if you've been to Universal Studios). My review really is 3 1/2 stars but I can't do in between three and four. It was slow throughout most of the book but the whole thing is after being exiled for punishment eating definitely want to get back to earth to save Elliot from growing up while Elliott has forgotten a lot of ET's teachings he's in love with a girl in his class. Like I said had a slow moments I could've expected better, had too many letdowns but in the end it was a bit touching. If you really love the original movie give it a shot and despite what Steven Spielberg said I don't think a sequel would rob the first of its virginity.

[Celesté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have fond memories watching E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in His Adventure on Earth, with my brother as a child. Admittedly, I never knew a sequel of the novel existed until I accidentally stumbled across the book while searching for inspiration on a bookshelf.

One might think this novel is meant for children, and with a thoughtful smile I'll agree. The story took me to a distant dimension, away from all the questionable events on Earth. A thought struck me hard. My inner child will linger always, with fierce determination and no regrets and this unstoppable inner power is what compelled E.T. to accomplish his mission.

This novel is relaxing, fun, hilarious and thought-provoking, and I felt warmth draped over my soul upon finishing the last word.

[Aaron Carruthers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book on Goodreads I've bothered to give a rating for or review. And it's because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm actually looking forward to reading it again. I found it in a thrift store, never having known if it's existence and mostly bought it to be funny. But it has turned out to be really really good. I'm sad that I've finished it because I want the story to go on. And I'm really sad there are no further sequels. In the 80's it would have been poorly presented as a movie I fear, but with animation technology now I think it could be done much justice as a film, look at the alien planets in Star Wars or Avatar for instance. Really a fantastic book.

[Amber Dyson · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a mess!

The whole time I was reading this book, I couldn’t figure out who it was for… it doesn’t seem like the author knew either, because:

The vocabulary is pretty elevated, so it’s not for kids.

The world-building, character development, and internal logic are beyond silly, so it’s not for adults.

The plot completely undermines and negates ET’s motivation from the movie so it’s not for fans of the film.

Imagine my surprise to find it so highly rated… is it fans of the author’s Farting Dog series? Is it the kind of person who would have preferred Romeo & Juliet to have a happy ending? If you liked this book, can you tell me why?

On to the next…

[Emiko Miyasato · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK TITLE:E.T.
Author:PENGUIN READERS
Publisher:William Kotzwinkle
Level:2

I chose this book because I like the movie.

SUMMARY:1.spaceship 2.Elliot 3.family 4.computer 5.transmitter 6.bike 7.spaceship

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1: In this story, the main character Elliot wanted to be frind with E.T. What do yo do to make a good relationship with your friends?
Answer: I think I try to make a lot of chance to talk with my friends.

2: Do you think the animal of spaceship truly exist?
Answer: Yes. I think there are many creatures in the spaceship.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A real slog. Sequel picks up right after the movie. E.T. is lonely for Elliott and steals a spaceship to return to Earth to prevent Elliott from pursuing a girlfriend. In addition to seeming completely out of character for E.T., the prose is so wrapped up in describing indescribable alien plant people that it sidelines the interesting part of the book. The scenes with Elliott and his family are quite good but too few and far between. It took forever to finish this, and it was not fun getting there.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and pointless. E.T. Didn't need a sequel in any form. All the Green Planet stuff was meh. I only enjoyed Elliot's stuff, of which there wasn't a lot of. Elliot's mom's characterization was that of a desperate woman willing to marry any man who would have her. It was an insulting portrayal to all women. Dee Wallace would have never taken this role if it was written this way. One of the worst books I've ever read.

[Alan Hoffman]

Very much the same character as the movie, but in entirely different circumstances . He intereacts only with members of his own society in this book - many of whom feel uncomfortable with him and ostricize him because of his time spent on earth. A logical, intriguing sequel that fleshes out E.T's world, but very different from the movie. Kotzwinkle also wrote the novelization of the film.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the Flopgopple did I just read?

I was excited to finally read the sequel to one of the greatest sci fi films ever. Now imagine going to see the Empire Strikes Back and they played The Star Wars Christmas Special. I wasn't expecting it to be great, but I never could have predicted it would be so bad. Like someone tried to stretch the plot of a deranged coloring book into a novel.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was very young. E.T. is a botanist and tries to get back to earth in a ship made out of a vegetable. This book made an impression on me and I wouldn't read it again because that would probably ruin it. I don't remember how old I was when I read it...

[martha]

Oh man, I read this as a kid and remember being a little freaked out but also really liking it. I wonder how it holds up.

Might reread for the Popsugar prompt "A book based on a movie," for which I'm having trouble finding a compelling option. Other ideas?