The Kid From Planet Z Series

Magic Bones is a much read series in my second grade classroom and I was thrilled to find another series The Kid From Planet Z by Nancy Krulik while on vacation.  Both series have in common the idea of traveling to another place or space which is very interesting for my readers.

The first book in the series, Crash! is about the landing or crash of Zeke Zander and is family lose power while traveling through space and land on earth.  Zeus the spaceship commander is a cat and the only one to attend college.  As you can imagine, the spaceship isn't a quick fix and the Zander family has to adjust to living on earth with earthlings while not giving away their true identity.  I loved figuring out the things Zeke didn't understand as an alien and his responses to cover up his earthling mistakes while adjusting to going to school.  He might have even used some of his alien powers to help him win a game of hide and seek with new friends Amelia and Eddie.

The second book in the series, Don't Sneeze! has the Zander family still living among the earthlings.  Zeke continues to spend time with Amelia and Eddie and have earthling adventures.  The book begins with a trip to the circus and Zeke being exposed to tissues, juice boxes, and cotton candy.  Zeke and his friends are suppose to do a presentation together when Zeke gets the sniffles.  It's quite a struggle to keep his identity hidden because zeebops get the flu they leak green tears and to heal they have to stand on their head for quite some time.  Zeke needs to be there for his friends and the presentation.  Zee isn't the only one not feeling well, Zeus the cat/spaceship commander comes down with the itches.  I bet you might be able to figure out what Zeus catches while living as an Earth cat.