Are we alone in the universe? Dan says “probably not,” but we're "looking in the wrong places." To me, his room full of unseen beings suggests we will be for some time. It's far too easy to get caught up in our routines, in our bubbles, in our egocentric ecosystems. Dan's illustration of a banal chore being conducted in the presence of extraterrestrials serves as a reminder to look up and consider the infinite possibilities every once in a while.
— Sean Rameswaram

First off, if there is a planet of dog-faced people, I do hope that they aren’t all as caught up in body image as Mara’s example suggests. I would hope that there are also normal beagle-, schnauzer-, and poodle-faced people who are happy with the natural bodies they have. It would be sad to finally discover alien life out there only to learn that they’re all into spray tanning, liposuction, and crappy TV shows (ummm… "Keeping Up With the KarDaschunds"?). Second off, this might explain the Dog-Faced Boy.
— John Delore

I love all the third/fourth grader submissions from teacher Mike (maybe because I have a third grader of my own). I can tell they put a lot of thought into their pictures, filling up the whole page with ideas. This one is from Jackson, who writes: "In this painting, aliens are flying spacecrafts. They are protecting their home planet. We are not alone in the universe." This is a hard topic to take on in an abstract way, so go kids! Keep contemplating the universe.
— Julia Barton

I like these whimsical peepholes into other galaxies that Rhoze has created. They almost feel like little slip holes in the starry sky that lead to other universes, not unlike the Multiverse theory. Somehow the idea of parallel universes has always made it easier for me to accept and ponder what other kind of life is out there, so I’m drawn to this illustration which feels like it marries those two ideas. If we slip through these portals, who knows what we’ll find?
— Julia Lowrie Henderson

This image made me laugh. Apparently, a third or fourth grader drew it. Has he seen Signs, the M. Night Shyamalan movie about crop circles? (Too scary for nine-year-olds, right?) Or maybe he’s watched the original Men in Black, in which an alien spacecraft crashes in a field. In any case, he’s picked up on something. Aliens love the Heartland, at least according to Hollywood. This drawing reminds me how many indelible images pop culture planted in my head about aliens before I graduated elementary school.
— Ruth Samuelson

I loved how Isaac answered the question both scientifically and existentially. Staring into our computer screens, “connecting” to each other, it’s easy to feel lonesome, even stranded. “It is as though the many sentient beings across the stars who ask this same question,” Isaac writes, “are like neighbors in an apartment building hoping to catch a glimpse of one another’s wifi signals as proof that they are there.” Still, I wonder how any of them would feel if the creature in the neighboring square actually popped by to say hello.  Maybe it’s better to be simultaneously alone?
— Jenny Lawton

This one immediately reminded me of a Gregory Crewdson photo. (Crewdson shoots painstakingly art-directed scenes that look like stills from a magic realist movie.) With the faint shadowy trees in the background and a harsh spooky glow from above, it's tempting to write the image off as too Close Encounters-influenced. But take a closer look at the figures. The child is actually a child-sized mannequin with a creepy and ecstatically happy clown face. The pair might be looking up to the glowing night sky at a sign of extraterrestrial life, but the non-human mannequin also reminds the viewer that here on earth there's often something other-worldly going on too.
— Michele Siegel

This is a simple drawing but I like the idea behind it: sentient beings on opposing planets yearning to see life; looking at each other but not even realizing it. "If some other intelligent creature is out there, I'm sure they want to find us just as much as we want to find them," writes Zach. "Unfortunately, up until this point, each of us seems to be shrouded in darkness." Maybe not for long.
— Leital Molad

I really like how India played with the concept of a pirate map for this illustration. The idea that trying to answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe is sort of like searching for buried treasure is wonderful. And as India writes, “If there is something out there, I’m sure that they are probably looking at a map to find out where we are.”
— Shannon Geis

A number of entries dealt with the idea that while we’re looking for signs of life elsewhere in the universe, alien life might be looking right back at us. But I liked how this entry evened the playing field. Instead of showing a human sort of cowering under an omniscient alien eye, this illustration shows several searching eyes — all peering through telescopes, equally curious.
— Alana Harper

If there's intelligent life out there, they're probably not playing pentatonic riffs from the car stereo in their space ships, or leaving us crop circles.  Adam's image makes me wonder if there could be evidence of ET life right under our noses and we don't see it for what it is — very Philip K. Dick.
— David Krasnow