Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 1-2. In this sf adventure from the An I Can Read Book series, Space Cat and his comic sidekick, Earl the Robot, are heading home to Earth when a space rock crashes into their rocket ship's fuel tank. Space Cat quickly lands on a nearby planet and looks for help, while Earl mends the fuel tank and cooks up a batch of his infamous noodles. When Space Cat's overtures to the local king prove useless, Earl's noodles save the day. Though the plot may be a bit silly, the story doesn't take itself too seriously and the words are easy to read. The somewhere-out-in-space setting will appeal to kids who have run through Yolen's Commander Toad books all too quickly. Best of all, Cushman's cartoonlike drawings, zinging with bright colors, give the book instant appeal. The lightning bolt on Space Cat's space suit is evidently an homage to Flash Gordon, who is named on the dedication page. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-These three books are a bit of a mixed bag. In Cazet's title, the bossy bird introduced in Elvis the Rooster Almost Goes to Heaven (HarperCollins, 2003) is forced into learning to say "please" and "thank you." Although the artwork is amusing, the story is confusing and the dialogue is difficult to follow. Expressions such as "Little Willie is busy.- He has a feather in every pie" will most likely perplex the intended audience. In Space Cat, a feline astronaut and his robot encounter some difficulty on their journey. The vocabulary is a bit challenging, and the comic drawings are primarily decorative. Overall, though, the book is an entertaining selection for more competent readers. In Ruby, a raccoon asks her friends, "What does it take to bake a cake?" She throws everything they suggest into the mix, including carrots, worms, flies, snails, and nuts. She bakes the terrible-smelling concoction, and when the friends sit down, they try their best to come up with nice things to say. Easy vocabulary and repetition make this a good choice for beginning readers, and the softly rendered pastel illustrations provide good picture clues. Skip Elvis, but add Ruby and Space Cat where books for beginning readers are in demand.-Melinda Piehler, Sawgrass Elementary School, Sunrise, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Bringing a touch of science fiction to the easy-reader crowd, Cushman introduces a new character, Space Cat, and his sidekick, a robot named Earl. After landing on a strange planet, Space Cat needs fuel to fly home and King Zorp won't give him any, until Earl's gluey noodles save the day. The book is mildly amusing, with illustrations reminiscent of 1960s TV cartoons. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Working up an idea he claims he had when he was ten, Cushman introduces a resourceful feline space explorer, with a feckless sidekick robot named Earl. Forced by a leaky fuel tank to land on an unknown planet, Space Cat begs for fuel from the local king, Zorp, but gets the brush-off as Zorp claims to need it all for machines to clean up the environment. Disdain turns to gratitude, however, when one of those machines starts to fall apart, and Space Cat finds a good use for Earl's latest culinary experiment, gluey fish and jelly noodles. Fans of Commander Toad will sign on happily to this promising start, which features lots of aliens in oogy shapes and colors, a Fritz Lang-ish robot who really needs to be kept out of the kitchen, and an intrepid tiger-striped Lead clad in a nifty spacesuit. (Easy reader. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
