Aliens in My Nest

Larry Shles uses an owl family to do something genuinely useful: explain to young children why their older sibling suddenly seems like a stranger. When Squib comes home from camp, brother Andrew is sullen, moody, and baffling — in short, a teenager. The animal-character framing keeps the topic approachable rather than threatening, and the built-in discussion questions make this a natural tool for school counsellors or parents navigating the same household friction. The humour is gentle enough not to mock adolescents while still giving younger kids permission to find the situation absurd. The 1988 illustrations and production values show their age, and the therapeutic niche limits how far this travels beyond families and classrooms actively dealing with the issue. But for that specific moment in family life, it is a thoughtful, well-constructed little book.