The First Cat in Space and the Baby Pirate’s Revenge

The First Cat in Space #4

by Mac Barnett, Shawn Harris (Illustrator)

In the fourth installment of Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris’s New York Times bestselling series, the heroic trio of First Cat, LOZ 4000, and the Moon Queen take on Captain Babybeard and his crew of swashbuckling pirates.

Robot-dog rovers on Mars! A nefarious banana! And a lot of other freaky stuff that really scares First Cat . . . that’s what’s in store for our feline hero and his friends in the next cataclysmic chapter of our bestselling blockbuster series.

When the notorious pirate Babybeard is mutinied and marooned on a deserted island, the Moon Queen enlists him as a privateer, and he’ll have to learn to rely on others to reclaim his ship—and restore his infamous reputation as the most dreaded pirate roaming the spacewaves!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Juvenile, Fiction, Childrens, Cats

272 pages, Hardcover

Published November 4, 2025

About the author

Born to non-farmers in a California farming community, Mac Barnett now lives near San Francisco. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center for students in Los Angeles, and he founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text: 5 stars
Illustrations: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Entire series: 5 stars

True rating: 20 stars.

And I don't say that lightly. Well, maybe I do. But this book is my favorite in what has become my favorite Kids series.

[Yujin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story focuses more on Babybeard than on the heroes. There’s a lot of action, and I was hoping to see more of the first cat in space and Loz, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to this is the most fun I've had in forever. The characters, the accents, the hilarious situations, the wordplay-- I loved everything about this. I was driving around playing this audiobook and acting it out because it was so much fun. Now please excuse me while I go find the other audiobooks with these performers.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The cat, the Moon Queen, and Loz are attacked by Captain Babybeard (accompanied by a mustachioed banana/plantain, James?), who steals their map to the Mariner's Mirror, so they must go after him. Babybeard originally wants to ransom the mirror, but James tries to talk him into keeping it. When Babybeard refuses, his crew mutinies and Babybeard is marooned.

Oh, I just... can't. Read this, and it's just as fast-paced and nonsensical as the others. These circulate decently with the Dog Man crowd, and have different layers of comedy. They are just so nonsensical and goofy that it's hard to write a review. Don't think I'll purchase, but might revisit if I get a hard copy to review. There's something about Captain Babybeard that I just don't like. The beard? The diaper? If he has a hat, why doesn't he have clothes? And why is the Cat the title character? Just one of those books that proves I am NOT actually a ten year old.

[Kelly ♈ · Rating 5 out of 5]

With even more brilliant colors by Alexander Utkin, this 4th installment didn't set me on edge like the others have-- except a little bit at the first antagonistic display; though I wondered how easy it would be for any young reader of an age who would pick up this book to understand a lot of the words (mostly pirate language), I found myself just enjoying following the story. Yes I'm a whole grown-up who Googled a decent bunch of words. Mind your business!

Favorite part: with the worm, period, but namely the worm talking about his home on an artichoke, and reading his poetry about it to Captain Babybeard, because it's an endearingly pleasant worm, and because artichokes are my favorite thing in the world. I used to say I would write an ode to the mighty artichoke.

Favorite line: "ꜱᴏ ɪ ꜱᴇᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʀꜱᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ʜᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴏꜱᴛ, ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙᴀꜱᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴇʀꜰᴜᴍᴇᴅ ʙᴀᴛʜꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴀɴᴄʏ ᴍᴀɴɴᴇʀꜱ, ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴄʜᴇᴇʀꜰᴜʟɴᴇꜱꜱ."

[Matt Glaviano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several of the series that I read - Dinosaur Sanctuary, Space Boy - have recently released volumes that feel like returns to form. This First Cat book fits in that category; I wasn't crazy about volume three and was surprised by how well this volume worked for me.

Even in a series that has always been driven by awesome art this volume stands out. And while I never expected that I'd get pulled into a pirate baby with a beard's side story, the clean narrative of the Baby Pirate's tale drew me in.

Good stuff - I'm psyched for the next book.

[Noah Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pirate setting didn’t grab me like the other three books have, but it grew on me as the story progressed. So much of the plot revolved around Baby Pirate and I was really missing First Cat! Capt. James Plantain was a great addition. I just love this series so much. Oozing with creativity and fun. Sweet poetry! 🪱

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Cat in Space has been a B character since the first book. ‘Tis odd for the titular character to play such a small role. The plot for this book is better than book 3, though it begins randomly. A fun jaunt through the moon’s oceans, betrayal, revenge, and redemption! My children love these books and Mac and Shawn put on an excellent live show for release tours!

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very fun installment, though I think the third is still my favorite. This one didn't center as much around the heroes we're used to, and it was fun to go in a different nautical direction for a bit. Still extremely funny.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of action and the story moved at a good pace, but not as funny as the first three books in the series.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was fun but reading aloud trying to talk like a pirate is hard

[Briana Galea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically GoT.

[Elaine Fultz, Teacher Librarian, MLS · Rating 4 out of 5]

One almost LOL but my mood could not have been worse, so this is likely to inspire lots of laughs from its fans.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carter was so disappointed I hadn’t read this yet so I had to read it. It was cute, but I didn’t like it as much as the 3rd one.

[HaileyAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun volume in The First Cat in Space series. I didn't think this one was as strong as others, but it's still a good time.

[Colleen Frakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is great and comes with a soundtrack

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this series! This was a great book with a lot of witty humor!

[Miss Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another perfect book in our favorite series.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

needs more kitty

[Mary T · Rating 2 out of 5]

My three year old son loved this book. He kept asking about it. I tried to return it to the library before finishing it, but he requested it by name.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t even read it yet I just know my kid will love it