What do you think?
Rate this book
Willy Maykit in Space
Earth-dwelling fourth-grader Willy Maykit couldn’t be more excited about his school field trip to Planet Ed. Willy’s class will blast off for the afternoon, learn about outer space, and be home in time for dinner. But when he wanders off on his own, Willy ends up being left behind on Ed! Can Willy, along with his classmate Cindy and an alien boy named Norp, outsmart the big hungry monsters on Ed until someone rescues them? With a little help from an android who likes knock-knock jokes and a seagull with terrific aim, they just might!
208 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2015
41 people are currently reading
357 people want to read
About the author
Greg Trine
43 books6 followersGreg Trine is the author of the Melvin Beederman, Superhero books for children, which he creates with his illustrator sidekick, Rhode Montijo. He is also the author of the young adult book, The Second Base Club. He lives with his family in his Southern California hideout.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/gregtrine
http://us.macmillan.com/author/gregtrine
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 5, 2015
WILLY MAYKIT IN SPACE by Greg Trine is a super silly science fiction story guaranteed to entertain young readers.
From classic knock-knock jokes to flying bird poop, the laughs are perfectly aimed at lower, middle-grade readers. The story becomes more outrageous with each action-packed chapter as an android, an alien, and a village of monsters are added to young Willy Maykit’s outerspace field trip. In a parallel story, readers learn about Willy’s father who has been captured by foothunters (not headhunters) in the Amazon jungles.
Librarian’s will easily convince reluctant readers to jump into this silly adventure with short, fast paced chapters and appealing visuals.
To learn more about the author, go to http://www.gregtrine.com/.
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers.
From classic knock-knock jokes to flying bird poop, the laughs are perfectly aimed at lower, middle-grade readers. The story becomes more outrageous with each action-packed chapter as an android, an alien, and a village of monsters are added to young Willy Maykit’s outerspace field trip. In a parallel story, readers learn about Willy’s father who has been captured by foothunters (not headhunters) in the Amazon jungles.
Librarian’s will easily convince reluctant readers to jump into this silly adventure with short, fast paced chapters and appealing visuals.
To learn more about the author, go to http://www.gregtrine.com/.
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers.
January 15, 2025
NOT very appropriate for young kids. This took a while to read as a bed time story because I kept having to read a page ahead and editing the content about halfway through. Lots of potty humor in the second half. It starts out promising but flops halfway through. Too many references to poop, including an illustration!
Oh, and no resolution with the Willy/Cindy crush! It’s mentioned at the beginning and then nothing even at the end even after they spend the whole book together!
Also, how the hell did the dad get back home?! That wasn’t even explained! One minute he’s running away from the foot hunters, the next minute he’s at the front door? The foot hunters thing also was seemingly racist.
Good idea, poor execution. Would not recommend.
Oh, and no resolution with the Willy/Cindy crush! It’s mentioned at the beginning and then nothing even at the end even after they spend the whole book together!
Also, how the hell did the dad get back home?! That wasn’t even explained! One minute he’s running away from the foot hunters, the next minute he’s at the front door? The foot hunters thing also was seemingly racist.
Good idea, poor execution. Would not recommend.
May 31, 2017
An outer space adventure! Loved the black and white sketched illustrations by James Burks but the story didn't stand out to me. Willy Maykit is, to be fair, a brilliant name, though. :-)
Wasn't a fan of "oh my aching you-know-what" and the fact that the scene couldn't just end at that, and the wayyyyy too perfect ending with Willy's dad? Agh. Most kids who lose a parent don't get to have them return home again someday. I wish this hadn't attempted to wrap everything up in a nice little bow.
But kids will find this entertaining, and I guess that's really the goal in the end.
Wasn't a fan of "oh my aching you-know-what" and the fact that the scene couldn't just end at that, and the wayyyyy too perfect ending with Willy's dad? Agh. Most kids who lose a parent don't get to have them return home again someday. I wish this hadn't attempted to wrap everything up in a nice little bow.
But kids will find this entertaining, and I guess that's really the goal in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2018
Willy Maykit was meant to be an explorer. His did was one, after all. His class takes a field trip to Planet Ed, and Willy gets left behind. His classmate Cindy happens to be left too, and they make a new friend in a hungry alien named Norp. Now they need to survive until they're rescued. They need food and shelter and to avoid being eaten by monsters!
A fun book I read with my seven year old son. It has some silly jokes and Willy is brave as he is sometimes clueless. He does have the most impressive seagull pet I've ever seen!
A fun book I read with my seven year old son. It has some silly jokes and Willy is brave as he is sometimes clueless. He does have the most impressive seagull pet I've ever seen!
March 16, 2021
The kids-on-an-alien planet aspect of this book is fun. But I was really disappointed with the subplot involving the father captured by a tribe of Amazonian ‘foothunters’. I almost stopped reading, but finished in the hopes that it would addressed in the ending. It wasn’t. If your kids read this book, make sure you have a conversation with them about the stereotypical illustrations and about how indigenous people are not cannibals.
August 26, 2017
Not interesting to me as an adult or one I would recommend to most kids. It would be good for reluctant boy readers due to the bathroom jokes, but I think a lot of the humor is too snarky for young readers to pick up on. If you are a fan of Captain Underpants or Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this might be for you.
January 3, 2026
I am not the demographic for this book's intended audience. I read it for SB County Battle of the Books and it is perfect for a little boy reader. It had little boy humor and adventure. I have lots of students to recommend it to, but it was not my jam, it got 2 stars because it was a rather unique premise and the intended audience will like it,
May 9, 2017
Most of this book was a light-hearted romp. But I easily could have done without the reference to injured private parts and, the more I thought about it, while I know it was meant to be a joke, the references to the African foothunters was for me just plain offensive.
July 30, 2017
This is on our Sunshine State young reader list but it was not my favorite. It's a very silly science fiction story about a kid named Willy Maykit who goes on a field trip to the Planet Ed. There's lots of poop and bodily humor so I'm sure the kids will like it.
June 14, 2017
Humorous story kids will love for the SSYRA 2017-18 year. Has great illustrations throughout.
July 31, 2017
A 4th grader has a class trip to outer space and gets left behind. The book reminded me of the Jimmy Neutron cartoon.
August 21, 2018
I liked it because it was an adventure in outer space
August 22, 2018
It was a good book because it was a really good adventure.
July 18, 2020
Fun space adventure book for kiddos. Plenty of appeal- jokes, bird poop saving the day, monsters, great illustrations and plenty of adventure. Our 4th grader gave it 5 stars.
October 27, 2021
Cute little story that I read to my son over the course of a couple of weeks. He's 6 and has started to enjoy me reading chapter books to him.
September 11, 2022
Super cute, fun sci-fi book for kids. There's a bit of potty humor, but overall it's humorous and enjoyable.
January 31, 2015
I picked this book up for my nephews thinking that they might like it. I had such an enjoyable time reading this book. The author did a great job of telling a story. I felt like I was right there with Willy, Cindy, and Norp. A fun trio. It would good to see a girl in the story. Cindy was an asset and not a hinder. The younger readers will enjoy this book. They will like the characters. Even the monsters. The author did a nice job of making the monsters scary but not too scary.
There was another story line happening as well. It involved Willy's father. The tie into the two stories was seamless. Plus the pictures just added to the story and made it really come alive. I will have to look for more books by this author.
There was another story line happening as well. It involved Willy's father. The tie into the two stories was seamless. Plus the pictures just added to the story and made it really come alive. I will have to look for more books by this author.
March 31, 2015
I liked this book overall. I was excited when I had reached the halfway point without finding any potty humor...and then a bird started pooping everywhere. Really? Then again, it was written for middle-grade children. I actually chuckled out loud at a few of the sections of clever wordplay. If the book's humor had all been of that style, it would have gotten 5 stars. I appreciated that Willy's parents were portrayed as loving and kind and looked out for his best interests. I believe this book will appeal to the intended age group (3rd-6th graders) with its silly monsters, resourceful kids, and mild potty humor.
September 27, 2015
You meet an alien on a far planet who carries matches and a flashlight but doesn't know what a hamburger is? I wanted the alien to be a little more alien and a little less "green skinned with antennae but like an Earth boy in every other respect". Kids probably won't care, but it seemed lame to me. Along with the fact that the alien planet has breathable air, drinkable water, and trees. Aside from the monsters with bad breath, this could have been a story about kids getting lost on a camping trip. On Earth.
April 14, 2015
Cute science fiction about getting lost in space and being resourceful
July 24, 2015
Great story. Loved the play on words in the title
February 20, 2016
Cute. Fast read. Funny. Even funnier for the younger crowd, if you get my meaning. I am a little too old to fully appreciate how awesome this is, but I think the 2nd-5th graders will love it.
Read
December 11, 2015Willy Maykit, Will he make it? This is a great play on words. I like the happy ending when Willy and his fellow students and his father return home.
January 1, 2016
A very cute adventure story set in outer space. It doesn't always make the most sense but kids will like it
December 25, 2024
battle of the books!
April 23, 2017
Trine, Greg Willy Maykit in Space 201 pgs. Houghton Mifflin, 2015. $13.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G
Willy gets to go on a field trip to another planet, Planet Ed. He leaves the group to go exploring, because his dad was an explorer and he wants to follow in his footsteps, but then he is left behind. He discovers his crush, Cindy, has been left behind too, then together they meet an alien that has been left behind as well. They quickly find out that hungry monsters come out at night and they must figure out how to survive.
The illustrations in this book are really fun and add a lot to the story, but the story itself was just sort of meh. The viewpoint switches to a variety of characters, randomly, and they were very uninteresting (like the pet seagull). The main character, Willy, is also kind of humdrum. Even the action wasn’t that interesting, and the book felt overly long for the events that happened in the story. Its wholesome and has cover appeal so its not a bad choice for 3-4th graders, just not a book that I would spend my limited funding on.
EL(K-3), EL –OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
Willy gets to go on a field trip to another planet, Planet Ed. He leaves the group to go exploring, because his dad was an explorer and he wants to follow in his footsteps, but then he is left behind. He discovers his crush, Cindy, has been left behind too, then together they meet an alien that has been left behind as well. They quickly find out that hungry monsters come out at night and they must figure out how to survive.
The illustrations in this book are really fun and add a lot to the story, but the story itself was just sort of meh. The viewpoint switches to a variety of characters, randomly, and they were very uninteresting (like the pet seagull). The main character, Willy, is also kind of humdrum. Even the action wasn’t that interesting, and the book felt overly long for the events that happened in the story. Its wholesome and has cover appeal so its not a bad choice for 3-4th graders, just not a book that I would spend my limited funding on.
EL(K-3), EL –OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
July 9, 2017
Another cute one that is written for lower readers, but not written as if those low readers are stupid. I appreciate a smart, low level book. Makes those reluctant readers more confident and likely to want to read.
March 8, 2018
This was cute, I really enjoyed it.
I think the characters were fairly well developed and I liked the inclusion of scenes that did not have Willy Maykit in them, the scenes that gave us an idea of other things going on.
I quite liked the illustrations, and the story was an easy read.
There were some definite funny parts and I would probably read other books in this series.
I think the characters were fairly well developed and I liked the inclusion of scenes that did not have Willy Maykit in them, the scenes that gave us an idea of other things going on.
I quite liked the illustrations, and the story was an easy read.
There were some definite funny parts and I would probably read other books in this series.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews