Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth
From the UK Children's Laureate 2024–2026
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Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth
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Narrated by:
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Peter Capaldi
About this listen
The Blythes are a big, warm, rambunctious family who live on a small farm and sometimes foster children. Now Prez has come to live with them. But, though he seems cheerful and helpful, he never says a word.
Then one day Prez answers the door to someone claiming to be his relative. This small, loud stranger carries a backpack, walks with a swagger and goes by the name of Sputnik.
As Prez dithers on the doorstep, Sputnik strolls right past him and introduces himself to everyone in the household. Prez is amazed at the response. The family pat Sputnik on the head, call him a good boy and drop food into his mouth. It seems they all think Sputnik is a dog. It's only Prez who thinks otherwise.
But Prez soon finds himself having to defend the family from the chaos and danger unleashed by Sputnik, as household items come to life - like a TV remote that fast-forwards people: 'Anyone can do it, it's just that people don't read the instructions properly'; and a toy lightsaber that entertains guests at a children's party, until one of them is nearly decapitated by it - and Prez is going to have to use his voice to explain himself.
It turns out that Sputnik is writing a guidebook to Earth called Ten Things Worth Doing on Earth, and he takes Prez on a journey to discover just those 10 things. Each adventure seems to take Prez nearer to the heart of the family he is being fostered by. But they also take him closer to the day that he is due to leave them forever....
©2017 Frank Cottrell Boyce (P)2017 Macmillan Digital AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lead Reviewer
- 01-12-17
Funny
Soooooo funny omg so so so funny I like frank corrall Boyce he is funny
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Deborah de Flammineis
- 26-04-22
Amazing story, Amazing Capaldi
marvelous and Peter Capaldi Is Simply perfect. I liked it very much. clear reading even for me who am not native English speaker. Perer Capaldi gives voice to all the characters with skill and professionalism. the story is great.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- E. Parke
- 20-10-17
Great
We've come to love all Frank Cottrell Boyce's books and Sputnik is no exception. The imagination that goes into them and the bending of reality is superb. We read it first at bedtime and I really couldn't do justice to the accents required so I was really glad to see a real Scot narrating it. It's possible that Robbie Coltrane could have done a better job but both are way ahead of me.
The book could be described as one boy's experience of his primary carer falling victim to the onset of dementia and the very real consequences that has for him but if you then go on to say that the arrival of an alien on a mission to save our planet is thrown in it can only make your mind boggle.
It's fabulous. We thoroughly recommend it.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Martin O'Neill
- 09-05-23
Fantastic performance from Peter Capaldi
Peter Capaldi is the perfect reader for this complicated story. Touching, imaginative and good fun!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 27-03-18
One of the best stories I have ever heard
We listed to this as a family, with son (11) and daughter (9). It’s both laugh-out-loud funny and really thoughtful. An incredibly well-written story and Peter Capaldi’s telling adds so much. Would recommend to anyone!
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Whiteowl
- 01-07-21
extremely entertaining
I will be honest I brought this purely because Peter Capaldi was reading it and as expected, he gave another fantastic and highly entertaining performance.. The story itself turned out to be a fun and entertaining adventure while still tackling difficult subjects like dementia and foster care with a great deal of sensitivity. Highly recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Thomas Wright
- 21-04-21
fun and educational
this is the 1st of his books that educate the reader about dementia without relating back to something else
without actually mentioning the condition but having a family member myself with the condition I can tell its what its educating about
with a space travelling dog thats not a dog for good measure
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1 person found this helpful