Marshmallow Martians

February 6, 2023
This inaugural story in a pleasant graphic novel chapter book series by collaborators Kent and Hooson (the Glam Prix Racers series) chronicles the misadventures of teal Fuzz and yellow Snug, cylindrical, antennae-festooned inhabitants of the ringed marshmallow planet Moop. Long curious about Earth, Snug—the self-proclaimed “mayor of Curious-ville! Queen of Curious-town!”—accompanied by Fuzz, embarks on an exploratory trip there with their talking space cat and dog, and their robot assistant. When deciding which Earthly oddities would be most exciting to take back to show their friends and families, a computer glitch points them in the direction of the most wow-worthy Earth smells. Equipped with “high tech smell suckers,” they land at an amusement park to capture “some of the SMELLIEST SMELLS,” which include “shoe-stench” from footwear left outside a ball pit, onions from a food truck, human burps next to a bubbly drink stand, and skunk spray. Snippets of edutainment, such as an explanation of where burps originate, pepper this good-humored space adventure populated by protagonists whose bright-eyed eagerness and boundless, bouncing energy are reminiscent of SpongeBob Squarepants. For emerging readers looking for a little goofiness, it will pass the sniff test. Ages 5–8. Agent: Gemma Cooper, Bent Agency.