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After crash-landing on Earth in the first Weird Planet book (Dude Where’s My Spaceship), aliens Klatu, Lek, and Ploo leave Area 51 and make their way to Las Vegas in order to find someone to fix their spacecraft. Along the way, they try their hand at “gum-balling” (gambling) and find themselves in a heap of trouble when they climb into a cage with a hungry tiger and can’t seem to morph into an animal shape. How will three misplaced aliens ever find their way home?
Not having read the first book in the series, I was a bit lost as to what had already happened. And Lost in Las Vegas ends rather abruptly in preparation for the third book. I didn’t really feel this book told much of a story at all—unless you count a great deal of information about gambling. As a parent, I don’t think step-by-step instructions on how to play roulette or slot machines is appropriate for children, even at the upper end of the recommended age spectrum. Lost in Las Vegas makes gambling seem fun and exciting, not a value I want my children reading about or becoming interested in.
My seven-year-old advanced reader read the first chapter with no problems. The reading level is appropriate for the age spectrum, but I can’t really endorse this book. Maybe the first and additional books in the series focus more on the alien trio and less on inappropriate things. Parents could read the book aloud to their children or couch the gambling sections with a big lesson, but personally I didn’t let my son read past the first chapter. The writing is good and filled with humor, the illustrations are delightful, so it would be worth checking out the other books in the series and skipping this one.
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Weird Planet #2: Lost in Las Vegas (A Stepping Stone Book)