Breaking News: Alien Alert

February 15, 2018
In space, no one can hear you party.Punctuating his story with special news reports complete with crawl feeds, Biedrzycki returns to the form that served him so well in Bear Alert (2014) and Bears to the Rescue (2016). Here, our three bear heroes find themselves unexpectedly sucked into a UFO along with a strange assortment of wildlife as well as farm and zoo animals. The action then cuts between the experiences of the startled creatures and the frenzied Channel 3 News reports for the people back on Earth. When at last the aliens land and discharge their guests, it becomes clear that these space denizens are more akin to Close Encounters of the Third Kind folks than Independence Day meanies: All the disembarking creatures sport goody bags from a birthday party that was truly out of this world (as memorialized on the rear endpapers). Rather surprisingly, the TV-news format feels fresh as ever, and Biedrzycki knows how to use its storytelling tropes to the book's best advantage. His Adobe Photoshop illustrations keep the action hopping and include such contemporary touches as smartphones and chyrons even as old-fashioned test patterns and a predigital TV (with cable box atop) make an occasional appearance.Considering the real-world 24-hour news cycle, these ursine antics amid the stars make for oddly comforting reading. (Picture book. 4-7)

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January 1, 2019
In Biedrzycki's third tongue-in-cheek Breaking News picture book, local animals are beamed up to a UFO. TV reporter Chad Newsworthy provides live coverage of the event, complete with eyewitness interviews and a news ticker across the bottom of the dramatic digital illustrations. When the animals return to Earth--"with goody bags?!"--readers learn "we are not the only party animals in the universe!"

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