Lupu Lupettu spends his nights in the fields, looking at the stars, sending signals to potential aliens who might be living out there in the universe. One day as he was staring into the distance - tada! - he spots a flashing light. "It's aliens!" he tells his friend the Owl. She quickly bursts his bubble: "Pfft, of course not, that was just a comet!"

But as it turns out, Lupu was right as a few nights later, he was woken up but this loud roaring noise. He scrambled out of bed, rushed into the garden, and there they were... little blob-like aliens climbing down their huge saucer like spaceship.

"Hello Lupu! Come with us please. We need your help."

And this was how Lupu ended up touring the solar system and making new alien friends.

Lupu Lupettu mitluf fl-istilel is the perfect story to teach children the Maltese names for the planets in the solar system and to introduce them to a world of spatial adventures - in a read-and-laugh-out-loud manner.

Lupu Lupettu has become possibly one of the children's favourite Maltese book characters, as each new Lupu title hits the bestseller charts. His trials and tribulations are the same as most children: he hates walking, he only loves to eat pasta, he thinks museums are boring, he wants to win all the time, which is what makes him a loveable character. Parents equally love him for the side-splitting wit of the plots and the gentle moral nudge at the end.

For this reason, Merlin Publishers regularly brings in new titles adding to the collection of the series in Maltese.

The Lupu Lupettu series has no fixed age: children from six years up will be able to read the book by themselves and parents can read it to younger children.

Lupu is the creation of young French author Orianne Lallemand and the character was tried and tested on her five children before it went on to become a publishing phenomenon. Together with illustrator Eléonore Thuillier, stories of Le Loup with his trademark amusing eyes and bush tail sprang to life.

Merlin Publishers engaged award-winning Maltese author Clare Azzopardi as translator and the result is one of the first superhero children's books in Maltese.

Lupu Lupettu mitluf fl-istilel can be purchased from all leading bookshops or directly online from merlinpublishers.com