Is There Anybody Out There?: Interplanetary Questions for Intelligent Earthlings

“Tailor-made for young minds beginning to grapple with big ideas.” —Publishers Weekly

* Winner, White Ravens, 2022 * Best Publishing Project, Premio Andersen, 2023 * Best Books for Children and Young People, El Banco del Libro, 2023

Is There Anybody Out There? is an introduction to philosophical curiosity sent to planet Earth from the planet Bibopia, with love. The aliens have asked us questions about many different topics, but certainly not about all topics; perhaps we can come up with some too.

Who would have thought that the first extraterrestrial message received on Earth verified by the scientific community would come in the form of a book? And who could have imagined, when opening the book in search of answers, that it would be composed only of questions?

Questions, questions, and more questions!

What is it like to be human? And what is it like to be you? What is the purpose of gender? How do you know what you know? Is Earth a good home? How do you humans get along? Who names the world on Earth? And, on Earth, does 2+2 always equal 4? And much more.

This book for intelligent earthlings (of different ages and heights) poses questions about identity, gender, coexistence, social differences, art, and a long etcetera of topics that say so much about humanity and make us stop to think about our way of understanding and inhabiting the world. With a style as intelligent and rigorous as it is fun and playful, Is There Anybody Out There? is a book to awaken curiosity, conversation, reflection, and debate.

Ellen Duthie is the co-founder of the Wonder Ponder philosophy and literature for children publisher and education project, based in Madrid (Spain). As a writer, she is best known for her Visual Philosophy for Children series (winner of the Andersen Prize for Best Publishing Project 2023), and is also the author of Is There Anybody Out There? Interplanetary Questionary for Intelligent Earthlings (White Ravens Award and “Los mejores del Banco del Libro” Award). Her fiction picture book Un par de ojos nuevos won the Spanish Bookseller’s Award for Best Children's Book in 2022. She has translated Maurice Sendak, Jules Feiffer, and John Burningham titles into Spanish.