59. "Wump World" by Bill Peet

I love Bill Peet's illustrations in The Wump World, especially his depictions of the Wumps--peaceable grazing animals who look like a cross between cows and capybaras. But I'm not a big fan of allegories, so the plot itself annoyed me a bit. One day, an alien race called the Pollutians comes to the Wumps' world. As their name implies, they build huge cities, pollute the air, drive the Wumps underground, and trash the planet. Then they zoom off into space to find another planet to wreck. The Wumps emerge from their caves, sadly survey the destruction, and finally find a final oasis of greenery. The book ends on a sort of hopeful note--eventually the plants will take over and the cities will fall down--but also suggests that some of the destruction and defilement of Wump World is irreversible.