The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants Review (Kids Sci-Fi)

Title: The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants | Series: Professor Sparky Sciencey Adventure #1 | Author: John Kelly | ASIN: B06XQLKHBJ | Genre: Kids Sci-Fi | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Source: Kindle Unlimited

The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants

On the planet Duplex an unknown (but probably evil) genius is dematerializing members of the Extreme Cleverness Society leaving only their underpants behind!

It’s time for Professor Sparky, scientific genius and sausage dog*, to interfere without being asked. With Ellie-Ann along for the thrills (and to stop him accidentally killing himself or blowing up the planet) he sets off to prevent more professors from being dematerialized.

It doesn’t go well.

But there is LOADS of exciting stuff about Quadflapple birds, worm-holes, indescribably foul-smelling dog-food, exotic-patterned underpants, reverse-o-alchemy, indoor explosions, lava-cats, and splunge-diving to keep you entertained along the way. – Goodreads

The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants Review

A sausage dog who wasn’t always a sausage dog and a brave tentacled alien girl is a rather interesting pairing in this middle-grade sci-fi novel. This is a great ‘intro to sci-fi’ book for young readers. From the wormholes to the aliens, and everything in between, it’s just fun. There’s even a gigantic idiot bird that has psy powers and a love of aerial acrobatics.John Kelly definitely knows how to write for his audience in The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants. There are a few illustrations in the book (not as many as little kids might like, but enough). They are well done, and perfectly illustrate what’s going on.

Ellie is a kick butt little alien girl in The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants. She consistently rescues Professor Sparky with the long-suffering air of someone very used to her job. Professor Sparky is hardly the serious type in this book. Well, he tries to be serious, but it’s doggone hard! (Especially when you’ve got a genius mind battling with a sausage dog’s instincts!) He’s also the proverbial absent-minded professor, as he proves within pages.  The worlds that Kelly describes are interesting, and given exactly the right level of detail.

There’s lots of action, and humor that’s very age appropriate. The fact that the thing that is making the people disappear leaves their underpants behind keeps everything on the silly side. The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants should appeal to little kids of all genders. It’s a fairly large book (192 kindle pages) so if you’re reading it with your kiddo, I’d recommend breaking it up over a few nights.

Unfortunately, there’s a big editing goof in it. Chapters 10 and 11 are switched around, and will definitely cause young readers a bit of confusion. (Even older readers, for that matter.) This really needs to be fixed.

Overall, The Only Thing Left Was Their Underpants was a fun read that we really enjoyed. Even with the big error, I would still recommend giving it a shot. Just keep in mind you’ll need to read those two chapters in reverse.