In the current pandemic, package delivery service has become our lifeline to groceries, clothing, books, toys, and household essentials. The Postman from Space is a junior graphic novel that gives us a futuristic glimpse of package delivery after space colonization.
Bob is a mail carrier who delivers packages between planets. Despite the interplanetary spin, it’s an ordinary job with routine duties. But then there’s a change of plans and Bob gets a new route every day. Though he’s anxious, he pulls up his space bootstraps, delivering a package in rain and mud, navigating an asteroid belt and space junk, fleeing a pack of desert space dogs on his hovercraft, taking orders from a demanding customer (shout-out to The Little Prince), and bargaining with pesky aliens meddling with his ship. Upon his return, Bob realizes that it wasn’t so bad—in fact, the old cactus lady on the messy planet makes the best cookies in the galaxy. And his universe is a surprisingly beautiful place. Bob’s boss offers him the option to return to his old route, but he opts for a life of unexpected adventures.
Guillaume Perreault’s graphic layout alternates between large single frames and smaller multiple panels to portray narrative action, emotion, and panoramic vistas of Bob’s universe. Each planet is rendered in a handsome pallet of muted browns, oranges, greens, blues, and grays. This award-winning graphic novel was originally published in French in Montreal; a sequel will be released soon—Bob trains a new mail-carrier and must contend with the infamous outer-space Biker Bandits! The Postman from Space is a visual feast to remind kids that new experiences and challenges create memories that last a lifetime.
Reviewed by Rita, Children’s Librarian
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