SOLVED. Oversized Children's Picture/Game Book about Aliens. [s]

[Daniel]

This was a book I read back in primary school (I can't remember exactly what year I was in, probably aged somehwere between 8 and 11 making this somewhere from 1995 to 1998 at the latest). Pretty sure it was hardback, and larger than a regular book. I think it contained several different sections, each having something to do with aliens - the one I remember most clearly was a gamebook style thing running through where you'd have to choose items to take with you, identify alien species of plants, and so on, with double paged coloured illustrations to help you. My memory's a bit fuzzy. Any ideas? (It wasn't Puzzle Planet, I don't think it was in the Usborne Puzzle series at all - I think it was aimed at slightly older people than them. I also get the feeling the particular copy we had was quite old when I read it.) I read it at school, in the class library.

[Cheryl]

Sounds like fun - but also sounds special to the UK - I'm just not sure I, in the US, would ever have seen it. I hope someone knows it!

[Shanna_redwind]

I'm throwing this out there just in case you've mixed two different books in your memory. There's a series of regular sized paperbacks with no colour, but pictures that take up most of the pages that fits your description.

Here's two of them. There's quite a few in the series.
Planet Hunters
The Galactic Pirate

In these you have to solve codes, mazes and other puzzles. They're aimed at grade 3-7 or so.

[SparksofEmber]

Daniel, was it one of the books Shanna_redwind mentioned?

[Daniel]

Ladysaotome wrote: "Daniel, was it one of the books Shanna_redwind mentioned?"

No, it was definitely full colour throughout. I believe some of the sections were more factual, and others more adventurous. From what I can remember of the puzzle section, it's something like this:

Your spacecraft lander has crashed onto an alien planet, and is quickly sinking into a bog. You don't have much time; in fact you can only grab (x) number of items from the ones in your craft. Which do you take?

Then, depending on if you grabbed the right items, you can use them to solve problems later on. Say, if you've grabbed the flora guide book you'll be able to tell a certain species of bush is poisonous. Stuff like that.

[Tab]

Do you remember anything about the other sections of the book?

Was the tone of the book serious, scary, funny, etc?

Were the illustrations cartoony, realistic, etc?

[Daniel]

Tab wrote: "Do you remember anything about the other sections of the book?

Was the tone of the book serious, scary, funny, etc?

Were the illustrations cartoony, realistic, etc?"

Very little, I'm afraid. I think the different sections were interspersed throughout, like an annual. I seem to recall one double page spread showing a regular home, but I can't remember why...

I think the illustrations were all realistic. Well, as realistic as you can be of an alien planet.

I'm tempted to see if my old school still has it! But I think it was in the class library rather than the general one.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Maybe contact the teacher whose class it was?

[Tab]

Maybe,The Planet Of Terror ?

I found the below info on gamebooks.org:
In The Planet of Terror, your spaceship has crashed on the Planet of Terror. Your task is to brave the planet's myriad dangers, from mutated animals coming out of pits of noxious liquids to finding a way out of a robot junkyard to find your ship, make repairs and go home....You're not exploring a fairly enclosed place like a castle or an island, but a whole planet. At one moment you could be on the Planet of Terror surrounded by mutant monsters, but the next open a door and suddenly be on a space station being attacked by a giant blob, or walk down a path and suddenly be turned into electricity and traveling through a bunch of microcircuit tunnels.

Here is the link to the page on Gamebooks
http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.ph...

[Daniel]

I've come across that one before whilst searching, and I'm fairly certain it's not that one (though I'd have to look inside to be sure...). The one I'm looking for had more realistic illustrations, I think, no monkey sidekick, and most of the puzzles were to do with the inventory - what items you'd chosen to bring with you at the beginning.

[Cheryl]

There are other threads in this group that might help. Search the discussions with the keyword 'puzzle' to find some of them.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

bump

[Liehann]

Hi Daniel,

Did you manage to find this book yet? I have also been searching for a book that sounds very similar to what you describe. The book I recall was a compilation of short stories and the game elements you described.

The only detail I think I recall from the short stories was a blue alien in a boy's house. The alien may have been able to shape shift. From the game elements I remember something about avoiding poisonous ferns and and a alien that was hunting you.

Do either of those details sound familiar?

I read the book in South Africa but it was probably an international import. Probably early 1990s. Unfortunately I don't recall any publisher or author details. I'd love to find this book or even remember more details from it so let me know what else you remember.

[Daniel]

Liehann wrote: "Hi Daniel,

Did you manage to find this book yet? I have also been searching for a book that sounds very similar to what you describe. The book I recall was a compilation of short stories and the g..."

That does sound familiar! I haven't been able to track down anything else about it, unfortunately.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Daniel, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Daniel]

I finally found it! Managed to find a book online that was potentially it, and it arrived in the post today so I can confirm it was correct. The book is Planetfall by Douglas Hill, Tamora Pierce and David Garnett. The section I most remembered was the "Can you survive on an Alien Planet?" part, which does indeed feature your spaceship's escape pod (known as an EGG) crashlanding in a bog on a hostile planet, and giving you limited time to grab some items from the pod before it sinks. As Liehann thought one of the other short stories does involve a shapeshifting alien in a boy's house.

[Kris]

Great. Glad you found your book, Daniel. Thanks for coming back and letting us know.