Project Gutenberg
2016-01-07
Public domain in the USA.
126
Smith, Evelyn E.
1922
2000
Francis, Dick
Francis, Richard D.
Not Fit for Children
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
"Not Fit for Children" by Evelyn E. Smith is a science fiction story written in the early 1950s. The narrative centers on an alien culture observed by young characters who interact with human tourists that have arrived in their space environment. The story explores themes of innocence, misunderstanding, and the contrast between the perceptions of adults and children in an imaginative extraterrestrial setting. The plot follows young aliens, including the protagonist Qan, who engage in a playful subterfuge as they welcome human tourists to their asteroid home, deceiving them into believing they are the "natives." The children take advantage of the humans' misconceptions, creating artifacts and getting paid in metal, which they consider valuable. As the story unfolds, the tension between maintaining their façades and the adults' skepticism grows, leading to amusing interactions and misunderstandings about their culture and ways of life. Ultimately, Qan's grandfather becomes intrigued by the existence of humans and considers visiting their planet, while the children's innocent game faces the potential harshness of adult perceptions, culminating in the assertion that the human world is not "fit for children." (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading ease score: 77.0 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
en
Science fiction
Short stories
Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction
Human-alien encounters -- Fiction
Telepathy -- Fiction
PS
Text
Science Fiction
Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
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