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Weird Planet #1
Dude Where's My Spaceship?
Klatu is such a varna! He crashed the spaceship into planet Earth with his brother Lek and sister Ploo onboard. Stuck in the middle of the Nevada desert with nowhere to run, Ploo is captured by army Earthlings who think that she is an enemy of humankind. Can Klatu and Lek to rescue Ploo from the terrifying Major Paine? Or will Ploo be held prisoner in Area 51 forever?
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
7 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Dan Greenburg
163 books75 followersDAN GREENBURG BIO
BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.
ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.
MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.
MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.
THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.
MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.
dan@dangreenburg.com
BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.
ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.
MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.
MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.
THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.
MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.
dan@dangreenburg.com
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 27, 2011
Imagine having the ability to speak another language by chewing a piece of gum. Child aliens Klatu, Lek, and Ploo crash land in the unfamiliar Nevada desert and must repair their spaceship before being discovered. When Ploo is captured by the military, Klatu and Lek set out to save their sister before it is too late. This book is the first in the Weird Planet series and is comprised of eight short chapters. Cartoonish illustrations appear every few pages, and the writing is appropriate for children transitioning between easy readers and difficult juvenile fiction. Overall, the storyline is silly with hardly any real science being used. Children may find the book amusing, but the book is all over the place. The author uses ridiculous explanations for certain events and the quality of the writing is poor. There is little difference between this book and a mindless cartoon on television.
October 1, 2024
In this thin, goofy and charmingly illustrated book, we meet alien siblings Klatu, Lek and Ploo, joyriding around the galaxy in their little spaceship just after Klatu (the eldest) earned his flying license. Unfortunately, Klatu is a varna, which is alien for a klutz, and they end up crashed in the Nevada desert, not far from Area 51. Worse, Ploo gets caught by some army guys, and even using her ESP abilities she's unable to persuade them to let her go. So Klatu and Lek must follow, chewing English language gum and transforming their big-eyed, big-headed, gray alien bodies into the look of children from a bygone era (because their school books on Earth are out of date). And despite not knowing that the cardboard box isn't an edible part of the pizza, they rely on a purloined pizza delivery as their ruse to get into the top secret government installation.
Ploo, meanwhile, has befriended a nice little girl whose father, Major Paine, is determined to save Earth from the alien threat. Ploo's escape depends on the bumbling boys and her own social skills, but that's only the start of their adventure because now, they have to find a mechanic – an earthling mind you – who can fix their banged-up flying saucer. Good luck!
This book, whose title is inspired by the 2000 comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? (and I'm sighing to think I have to explain this), is the first of six installments in the Weird Planet series, which continues in Lost in Las Vegas, Chilling with the Great Ones, Attack of the Evil Elvises, Lights Camera ... Liftoff! and Thrills, Spills, and Cosmic Chills. The edition I read was illustrated by Macky Pemintuan. Dan Greenburg, an author I'd never heard of before I laid eyes on this book, is a surprisingly prolific fellow, credited with the Max Segal trilogy (Love Kills etc.), 30 "Zack Files" books (A Ghost Named Wanda among them), eight "Maximum Boys" books (How I Became a Superhero etc.), eight "Secrets of Dripping Fang" books (including Please Don't Eat the Children), and about a dozen other novels including Green Eggs and Dinosaurs. He doesn't seem to have put out any new books since about the mid-2010s, but he has a big catalog going back to about 1968, so if Ploo and her brothers amuse you, you'll have your used book shopping cut out for you.
Ploo, meanwhile, has befriended a nice little girl whose father, Major Paine, is determined to save Earth from the alien threat. Ploo's escape depends on the bumbling boys and her own social skills, but that's only the start of their adventure because now, they have to find a mechanic – an earthling mind you – who can fix their banged-up flying saucer. Good luck!
This book, whose title is inspired by the 2000 comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? (and I'm sighing to think I have to explain this), is the first of six installments in the Weird Planet series, which continues in Lost in Las Vegas, Chilling with the Great Ones, Attack of the Evil Elvises, Lights Camera ... Liftoff! and Thrills, Spills, and Cosmic Chills. The edition I read was illustrated by Macky Pemintuan. Dan Greenburg, an author I'd never heard of before I laid eyes on this book, is a surprisingly prolific fellow, credited with the Max Segal trilogy (Love Kills etc.), 30 "Zack Files" books (A Ghost Named Wanda among them), eight "Maximum Boys" books (How I Became a Superhero etc.), eight "Secrets of Dripping Fang" books (including Please Don't Eat the Children), and about a dozen other novels including Green Eggs and Dinosaurs. He doesn't seem to have put out any new books since about the mid-2010s, but he has a big catalog going back to about 1968, so if Ploo and her brothers amuse you, you'll have your used book shopping cut out for you.
March 23, 2012
Dude, Where's my Spaceship is a 83 page science fiction book by Dan Greenburg.The general age range is primary to advanced. This book should be read because it is fun and it teaches acceptance of others.
Klatu, Lek and Ploo are siblings. They left there home, Loogl to explore but Klatu wanted to prove that he could fly the space craft to far distances. Once they crashed on Earth Ploo was captured and taken to Area 51.Klatu and Lek morphed into humans and chewed the white gum balls that lets them speak English. They got a ride from a rancher to Groom Lake. The boys stole a car that happened to have a map and was full of pizza. They followed the map to area 51. Meantime their sister Ploo made friends with major Paine's daughter Lily. Lily broke Ploo out of her cage and hid her in her bedroom. After almost getting caught by her father, lily took Ploo outside where she bumped into her brothers and after a short introduction and goodbyes, Ploo left with her brothers to find Lily friend Jojo who could help the siblings find and fix their spacecraft in order to return home. This book is # 1 in a series.
This book has aliens, esp, anti gravity, a hide a craft device and language gum. The artistic elements are ink on paper media, shape is shown to exaggerate the size of the siblings head, eyes and mouth, the setting is Nevada in the future, and the plot is continuous. This story makes you want to read more and for that i give this book a five star rating.
Klatu, Lek and Ploo are siblings. They left there home, Loogl to explore but Klatu wanted to prove that he could fly the space craft to far distances. Once they crashed on Earth Ploo was captured and taken to Area 51.Klatu and Lek morphed into humans and chewed the white gum balls that lets them speak English. They got a ride from a rancher to Groom Lake. The boys stole a car that happened to have a map and was full of pizza. They followed the map to area 51. Meantime their sister Ploo made friends with major Paine's daughter Lily. Lily broke Ploo out of her cage and hid her in her bedroom. After almost getting caught by her father, lily took Ploo outside where she bumped into her brothers and after a short introduction and goodbyes, Ploo left with her brothers to find Lily friend Jojo who could help the siblings find and fix their spacecraft in order to return home. This book is # 1 in a series.
This book has aliens, esp, anti gravity, a hide a craft device and language gum. The artistic elements are ink on paper media, shape is shown to exaggerate the size of the siblings head, eyes and mouth, the setting is Nevada in the future, and the plot is continuous. This story makes you want to read more and for that i give this book a five star rating.
April 24, 2008
CIP/Summary: When their spaceship crash lands on Earth, Ploo is captured by the Army and taken away to mysterious Area 51, and while her brothers, Lek and Klatu try to rescue her, Ploo uses her ESP to make a new friend.
Dude, Where's my Spaceship is a "Stepping Stone Book" full of action and adventure intended to entertain readers who are past picture books, but not yet ready for more advanced reading. The characters' take on human thought processes and their instant translations through chewing gum will keep many kids reading.
Favorably reviewed in SLJ and panned by Publisher's Weekly.
Dude, Where's my Spaceship is a "Stepping Stone Book" full of action and adventure intended to entertain readers who are past picture books, but not yet ready for more advanced reading. The characters' take on human thought processes and their instant translations through chewing gum will keep many kids reading.
Favorably reviewed in SLJ and panned by Publisher's Weekly.
March 29, 2008
I read this to my class but there was really too much that they didn't understand-- even with my explanation. References to Roswell and Area 51 went right over there head. But there are enough references to poop to keep the boys listening.
January 23, 2011
This book could be a high interest/low level book for some students. I would not recommend it for ELL students. There is much background assumed about Area 51 and Roswell. It does have some very funny moments and I will look for the next book in these series.
May 31, 2012
Did this for my booktalk with a fourth grade class:
Me: Have you ever lost a car at the shopping centre??
4th grade: Yeeeeeeeeeeeees
Me: Have you ever lost a spaceship?
4th grade: *jaw drops to the floor*
It's a fun book to get kids reading.
Me: Have you ever lost a car at the shopping centre??
4th grade: Yeeeeeeeeeeeees
Me: Have you ever lost a spaceship?
4th grade: *jaw drops to the floor*
It's a fun book to get kids reading.
Read
July 20, 2012This is a silly story of three aliens who crash land into an unknown world and must use bizarre inventions and some good old-fashioned luck to save their family. This knee-slapping novel is the first in the Weird Planet series.
October 9, 2012
This is a silly story of three aliens who crash land into an unknown world and must use bizarre inventions and some good old-fashioned luck to save their family. This knee-slapping novel is the first in the Weird Planet series.
July 7, 2008
When Ploo gets captured, she meets a new friend.
June 4, 2009
It was the most fun book I think I ever read. It was interesting. I will continue to read this series.
Harrison, age 8
Harrison, age 8
May 19, 2010
This was my first chapter book that I read to myself woo hoo!!!!!!
June 2, 2012
A funny book that boys in grades 3 or 4 would read... This is part of a series, so the ending is a bit up in the air...
July 28, 2013
Quirky little story about three young aliens getting stranded on earth as their spaceship crashes - a bit silly, but will surely delight many young readers. Author also writes Zack Files series.
February 4, 2016
The first book in an amusing series about 3 alien kids who accidentally land on Earth and must find their way home. gr3
July 26, 2016
Lots of humor and heart in this sci-fi chapter book series. Perfect for those fans of Magic Tree House looking for aliens and space ships.
March 9, 2016
B. children's book, grade 2
too-old-for-these-now
December 18, 2018My 3rd grader got bored and didn’t finish - I think he’s too old for this book now.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews