Based on the screenplay by Melissa Mathison.

What do you do when you're lost, millions of miles from home, surrounded by frightening creatures?
You do what the Old Botanist did when he was accidentally left behind on Earth. First you find a friend...

Filmaker STEVEN SPIELBERG and novelist WILLIAM KOTZWINKLE together create a magical story about two unforgettable friends: a gentle being from another world who is stranded on Earth, hunted, afraid and alone....and a ten-year-old boy who finds him and takes him home.

--from back cover of paperback version