When Stanley’s mom leaves on an overnight business trip, Stanley decides to take off on a trip of his own—to Mars. Traveling in a backyard spaceship fashioned from a cardboard box, he lands on Mars and sends a Martian home in his place. Both his dad and his older brother welcome the Martian, and quickly adjust to his habits, such as skipping dinner to make room for dessert, and not washing. The Martian sleeps in Stanley’s bed and even goes to school the next day, where everyone mistakes him for Stanley. When Stanley’s mom returns home, so, too, does Stanley. Cartoon pen-and ink and watercolor illustrations add humor to an already funny story about a boy using imaginary play as a coping mechanism. His wonderful family members are all wise enough to play along, letting Stanley work through his anxiety in his own way. (Ages 4–7)

When Mom has to go out of town, Stanley decides to blast off to outer space. But who’s this small martian returning in his place who doesn’t follow earthling rules?

On the day that Stanley’s mom takes a work trip overnight, Stanley decides to leave planet Earth. But when his spaceship touches down again in the backyard, a young martian crawls out, proclaiming to Stanley’s dad that residents of Mars don’t wash before dinner, eat their vegetables, or brush their teeth. It just so happens that martians tend to act out in school, too. . . . With whimsy and sympathy for a familiar dilemma, Simon James ushers us into the coping fantasies of an imaginative, sensitive kid — and shares the pleasure of his sheepish reunion with a most accepting family.