Dr. Xargle facts for kids

Cover of Dr Xargle's Book of Earthlets, first in the series (1988), art by Tony Ross

Dr. Xargle is a fun series of children's picture books. These books were written by Jeanne Willis and drawn by Tony Ross. The first six books came out between 1988 and 1993.

The stories are told from the point of view of an alien. This alien looks at human life, especially what British kids and their families do. Dr. Xargle is the main character. He is an alien who studies Earth and teaches his alien students about it. Sometimes, he even takes them on field trips to Earth. They wear disguises so humans don't notice them!

Later, in 1997, a British TV show was made based on the Dr. Xargle books.

The Dr. Xargle Books

The Dr. Xargle book series is all about how aliens see our world. The books were first published by Andersen Press. They later came out in paperback versions too. In the United States, some books had slightly different names. For example, the first book was called Earthlets, as explained by Professor Xargle.

The third book, Dr. Xargle's Book of Earth Tiggers (1990), was very special. The artist, Tony Ross, was highly praised for his amazing illustrations. He was a runner-up for the Kate Greenaway Medal. This award celebrates the best children's book illustrations by a British artist each year.

Here are the books in the series:

• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earthlets (1988)
• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earth Hounds (1989)
• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earth Tiggers (1990)
• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earth Mobiles (1991)
• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earth Weather (1992)
• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earth Relations (1993)
• Dr. Xargle Stories (1999) is an Audiobook collection. It includes most of the books.
• Dr. Xargle's Book of Earthlet Sleepovers (2004) was a special book. It was made to help children who sometimes wet the bed.

Dr. Xargle Television Series

A TV show based on the books was made in 1997. It had 13 episodes. The show was produced by CINAR and King Rollo Films. In the TV series, Dr. Xargle and his students are puppets. Their lessons about Earth are shown using animation.

In the books, the aliens' home planet was not named. But in the TV show, it was called Planet Queeg. The alien children were called Queegles. It's not clear if "Queegle" is the name for their whole species or just for their young ones.

Main Characters in the TV Show

Here are some of the characters you would meet in the Dr. Xargle TV series:

• Dr. Xargle: His voice was done by Willie Rushton.
• Xamster
• Matron
• Monitor
• Cute
• Rebel
• Tardy Queegle
• Famished Queegle
• Nigel Spume: A human reporter who tries to prove that aliens exist.

Episode Guide

Each episode of the TV show lasted about 30 minutes. Some of the original broadcast dates and the order of episodes are not known today. There was also a break in when the show was aired.