The Thief of Air

The Thief of Air is a sequentially illustrated skit on a stinkbug named Stephen. It’s so much fun the reader might actually end up liking Stephen the Stinkbug and feel sorry for him. Stephen throws his stink-bombs at ants, bees and endangers a pretty blue butterfly. With him around the Tree of Liberty has definitely shrunk. It’s suggested symbolically that Stephen and his kind might’ve caused the extermination of Dinosaurs! Stephen seeks out his friend Stanley only to see the poor fellow stamped out. But there is no nasty, realistic depiction of his gruesome death. It’s suggested without directly showing anything seriously cruel. It might actually make readers laugh. Stephen to forget about Stanley thinks of his sweetheart Stella. But she might be the worse threat ever, more so than the disgusted homeowner who killed Stanley. It’s quite a paradox for a Stinkbug to be in love with her!In the end, a nasty and perhaps unreliable narrator, a cockroach, tells of Stephen’s ultimate demise by misadventure. But can we believe this vile pest and what exactly can stop a stinkbug like Stephen? In conclusion at the end, in a little parody epilogue of Dragnet, Sgt. Friday informs the reader of the real harm and dangers of stinkbugs in the real world and how to handle them if found in the home. After this there is a surprise picture on the last page suggesting what might actually put an end to Stephen’s scourge. Over all, it’s an amusing little farce to educate the public on a serious agricultural problem. Maybe, except for the Stella part, it shouldn’t offend parents of preteens, but it’s definitely an adult picture book, in a comic strip style, for ages 18 and up. A good coffee table quick read, novelty item.