The Time-Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess

The Time-Travelling Cat #1

by Julia Jarman

The first story in a new historical adventure series takes us to Ancient Egypt.
Topher and his father are mourning the death of his mother, an Egyptologist, when they take in a stray cat. The cat appears to possess ancient knowledge, and Topher is also puzzled by its mysterious absences.
Originally published as The Time-Travelling Cat.

Genres: Fantasy, Time Travel, Cats, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Historical

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Julia Jarman is a British author of books for children of all reading ages and ability.

Reviews

[Ali Chambers]

I remember reading this book such a long time ago! In fact, I remember I liked the front cover and I tried to draw it in my notebook on the beach :) Wow, it would be so great to read this again, because I remember liking it at the time. And I mean, I'm not surprised I picked it up really! Time travelling and cats , what more could you want?

[Hajra Natha · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Time-Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess’ is about the adventures of boy called Topher and his mysterious cat called Ka.
Topher and his dad are both struggling to deal with the death of his mum. Topher misses his mum a lot who was an Egyptologist and has a fragile relationship with dad but they are muddling along until one day a stray cat turns up and they take it in. Topher becomes very close to Ka who has a weirdly striking resemblance to a gift cat statue given to him by his mum. Ka would often disappear for days leaving Topher concerned, wondering and troubled about him.
Eventually all is revealed as Ka jumps onto the keyboard and spells out ‘Bubastis’ whilst Topher plays a game…a stunned Topher and his dad recognise the term and realise that Ka is sending them a message. They quickly learn that he is the stone statue cat that is time travelling back to ancient Egypt when cats were worshipped and sacrificed.
I enjoyed this book with a year 5 class. The story is gripping, emotional and even scary at points as it takes Topher on the time-travelling journey back to ancient Egypt to find his cat Ka. It’s an excellent choice for class reading and group work, the book is knowledgeable links with the key stage 2 curriculum subjects well; it describes and gives a historical aspect of how times were in ancient Egypt. Many interesting activities and lessons can be planned to incorporate a range of curriculum subjects whilst using this story book as a source i.e. Art, History, English, PHSE (loss of parent, attachment, fear, communication, single parent).

[Miss Varley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Time Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess
by Julia Jarman

In this book there are three main characters called Ka (the cat), Topher (a young boy) and Dad (Topher's dad). Topher’s Mum died in a plane crash travelling back from Egypt where she worked as an egyptologist and archaeologist.

Ka is always up to lots of mischief and is often running away on a new adventure.Topher is very determined to find Ka when she is very cheeky and runs off.Topher's dad sometimes shouts at him, although most of the time they get along well and enjoy spending time together.

When Topher followed Ka back in time, on one of her adventures, he heard his parents talking about the festival of Bubastis. He pleaded his parents to go to it, but ended up having to dress as a girl to be able to get into the temple and rescue Ka.

When I started to read this book it caught my imagination and made me always want to read on. My favourite character is Ka because she's very cheeky and adventurous, just like me!

In my opinion the story is very good because it is funny, exciting and occasionally scary. I loved that it was based in Egypt and also in England.

I would recommend this book for anyone who loves fiction books or learning about the past in Egypt. I rate this book with 5 stars.

Review written by Katie Doyle

[Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hobby of mine is picking up random obscure children’s books, and this certainly fit the bill. I found it at a garage sale and I mean who can say no to that title. I’m going to preface this review by saying this book is not very good, but I enjoyed it. The story is short and sort of nothing. It’s very, underwhelming. I found the dialogue very poorly written and kind of off at times. But the characters are fun and it’s overall pretty inoffensive. I did really enjoy the relationship between Topher and Ka, it was sweet and done well. I unfortunately don’t know enough about ancient Egypt to comment on the section that takes part in it, but it was at least interesting and fairly well described. Overall it was a good mindless read and I had a good enough time.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Topher's mum was an egyptologist who died in a plane crash. A stray cat adopts Topher and his dad, bringing great comfort to the small family until she goes missing. A mysterious ffalcon takes Topher time travelling to ancient Egypt. Will he find Ka, the cat? What about his mum?
A pleasant enough time travel adventure, but really doesn't provide much of an introduction to ancient Egypt.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun and touching story about a boy and his cat. Topher’s mum had died and the story sort of revolves about him and his dad dealing with their loss and them adopting a cat they’ve called Ka, who may or may not actually be a time-travelling cat.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was adorable! Spotting this on BorrowBox this morning, I immediately borrowed it. Was quite short as it is a children’s novel but it proved an excellent story.

Jarman doesn’t sugar coat the past and I will be moving on to Ka and Topher’s next adventure soon.

[ClareA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got told off for reading this in history class. I adored this book.

[Gecko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish my cat was Ka.

[Annabel Gallagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poorly written. Fit our class theme of Egyptians but was very very hard to read.

[Charlotte King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short, sweet but it kind of lost me towards the end.

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. My favourite character was Topher.

[Happy Reading Watching]

It was a nice read 📚 🐈

[zachodsracky · Rating 3 out of 5]

tehdy to mega eatovalo

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

OMG I’VE FINALLY FOUND THIS BOOK!!! I read it when I was younger and I remember loving it!

[Flo Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet book about the relationship between a man and his cat. Cat lovers will be able to relate to it. I highly recommend the audio version - the cat’s voice is perfect!

[Jordan Wiens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt it was too slow-paced and hard to get into. The premise sounded interesting and I think Ancient Egypt is a great topic. I just think it could've been done better.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Topher and his father are dealing with the loss of Topher's mother and not doing it very well. In the process they end up hurting each other and are only brought back together with the help of Ellie, a young girl who is deaf and has surgery that helps her to hear again and a cat named Ka. But there are things that happen with the cat and decisions that they make.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is now entitled 'The Time Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess'. I read this as I am teaching an Ancient Egyptians topic next term and wanted to see if this would be a suitable class text to use alongside the topic. It was an ok read and there are some useful Egyptian facts to share.

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun children's book, but not as awesome as I was hoping.

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written

[Gareth Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

dull.

[Rosie Boyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great if you want to know more about Egyptian history but I felt it dragged a little.