Zebo and the Dirty Planet

William Blackburn is a professor of English at the University of
Calgary.

Zebo lives on a planet where “the air is clean and fresh” and
“crystal-clear waters gurgle in the streams.” When his scrutiny
reveals that Earth is “dirty” and “sick,” this intergalactic
busybody hastens to our planet and, like a latter-day Noah, loads into
his spaceship “two of every kind of animal that was in danger.” Two
child stowaways are returned to Earth to spread Zebo’s message.
“When they learn to take care of the trees and keep the water clean,
then I will bring the animals back.”

While the story’s message is oh-so-impeccably correct, the author’s
touch is rather heavy-handed, and an unsympathetic reader might well
question the morality of Zebo’s unilateral action. Fernandes is a
student at the Ontario College of Art; her clever and colorful
illustrations are far and away the best thing about this doctrinaire
little story.