A Blurmp in Time

Catwad's Friend Blurmp #1

by Jim Benton

It's Blurmp's turn in the spotlight in this hilarious Catwad spin-off!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Dumb Diary and Franny K. Stein comes this hilarious companion to Catwad!

Peanut butter & jelly, macaroni & cheese, socks & underwear... Good things come in pairs, and Catwad and Blurmp are no different. This time, it's Blurmp's turn to shine! Join Blurmp as he travels through space and time, "helping" with the creation of the pizza in 18th century Italy, making friends with zombies, even venturing to a world full of other Blurmps, and much more. Full of laughs, the return of Blurmp (and Catwad) is not to be missed!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Juvenile, Animals

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 6, 2026

About the author

Benton began his career in a custom design t-shirt shop where he started designing his own characters. At the same time, Jim did illustrations and artwork for magazines and newspapers. People magazine named him "the most visible cartoonist in America" .

Benton also created greeting cards and worked in the magazine and publishing industry. In 1998, his SpyDogs characters became an animated series, The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, that aired on Fox Kids. Licensing his own creations brought them widespread attention on products, such as It's Happy Bunny, The Misters, Just Jimmy and more.

Benton currently lives in Michigan, where he operates out of his own studio.

Reviews

[Sera]

I was SO excited to see another graphic novel in the world of Catwad & Blurmp! I think they’re my 2 favourite goofy cats. The stories weren’t as hilarious to me as the ones in the Catwad series but I still enjoyed it for what it was.

[brookie the cookie]

i feel bad giving this book such a low rating😂 it was fsfs not targeted towards someone my age :(

but even with the weak and somewhat immature plot, the gross humor was still somehow able to make this book worse😭


i read a blurmp in time to reminisce the time when i actually enjoyed books like this🤧

i quite liked the original catwad comics back in the day- 😂

[Christian]

Read with Liz

[Ashley Urquhart]

I’ll be honest, a little too much crude/dumb humor for me. Obviously I’m not the target audience, and I can see how this might get a kid reading who wouldn’t normally enjoy reading. However, it is not a book I will be sharing with my own kids.

[Georgina S]

It was silli very silly. It was very funny, the funniest part was when the cat was like free breakfast and he was literally eating spiders. It was so funny, I love it. I would say this book is only allowed from 8 and older.

[Olivia]

See my full review here: https://yabookscentral.com/a-blurmp-i...

A BLURMP IN TIME is a humorous graphic novel adventure through time. Blurmp has created a time machine, which he uses to travel through time. He first goes to a bakery and accidentally creates pizza. He next travels to Ancient Egypt and gets himself rolled in toilet paper, inventing the mummy look. He continues on, finding zombies, pirates, and more along the way. Eventually, Blurmp is unable to continue his time travel when the future makes it illegal, and he will need to solve one last time issue before destroying the time machine for good.

What I loved: This is a creative and silly graphic novel that is full of fun and imagination. Blurmp really blunders his way through time, even as he seems to make an impact everywhere he goes. Readers are sure to giggle at his mistakes and the ways that they are resolved, with plenty of comedy and silliness along the way. With the different locations, the book almost reads like little short stories through time (and imagined futures) that keep the pace feeling very fast.

The illustrations do much of the storytelling, which is perfect for the graphic novel format. Readers will be able to follow along with what is happening through the images and the individuals in them, with clear characters from each time period/era along the way. The dialogue is brief and adds a nice touch to the images, bringing the story together and letting the characters' personalities shine.

The panels and speech bubbles are easy to follow and read, with a nice, large font used throughout. While this is great for middle grade readers, it will also work well for children who are gaining independence with reading. The humor and ease of reading/following are great for those advancing from the easier series and looking for something silly and new.

Final verdict: A BLURMP IN TIME is a funny and silly graphic novel that readers are sure to enjoy. With comedic glimpses into the imagined future and past, this book will keep readers on their toes as they enjoy laughing along with Blurmp's antics.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Stephen]

My youngest daughter loved this book. I liked it a lot, but it did not serve as a better book than any from the Catwad series! It is an excellent spin-off with potential but really felt like it was a filler book the way anime has a filler episode. I did enjoy it, but I think I wanted to enjoy it more. As I am not the target audience, but it still is a good thing. I think the target audience will give this a 4 star...just trying to be fair. The story is exactly what you think it would be.

[Ellon]

3 stars (I liked it)

I haven't read the Catwwad series but I found myself enjoying this spinoff. It's chaotic and silly and a bit crude but I still liked it.

It was especially fun to see how the different places that Blurmp visited came together for the ending. I can definitely see my students getting a kick out of the book.

[Keidi Ravdin-Teng]

tirico8.(;**^8^*******^%

Hmgmdnshejdvejhbxgydftt b5bjkhnmmmmmm j-ugly Hi Isa how are you fart noises fart noises farts off the charts farts off the charts SpongeBob get stars buckets fudge buckets versus buckets Ponch Bucketz Ranch Plaza chicken banana chicken banana chicken butt poop poop poop poop chicken butt poop chicken banana all right that’s a good

[Panda Incognito]

This was absolutely hilarious. The time-travel story is fast-paced and clever, and this has enough word play and situational humor that it's not just toilet gags, even though kids will still find those in abundance.

[Ky We]

Major spoilers:hahahaha

[Marissa]

Look I dont remember how I got here but this popped up on my Libby holds today and what a book.

[Matt Glaviano]

Not for me.

[R Van B.]

This cat is HILARIOUS! Great read for 8-ish year olds.
Jim Benton, keep getting to Blump & Catwad coming!!! Our library patrons are hooked!!!

[Lennon Foster]

Jim Benton’s A Blurmp in Time is an absolute blast, a fizzy, inventive, and laugh-out-loud middle-grade adventure that proves the author’s signature brand of clever absurdity is as sharp and welcome as ever. From the moment you encounter the gloriously silly title, you know you’re in for something special: a story that doesn’t just play with time travel tropes but gleefully launches them into a whirlwind of goo, chaos, and heart.

The book’s greatest strength is its boundless, kid-approved imagination. The concept of a "Blurmp", a charmingly messy, time-disrupting creature whose very existence warps the rules of cause and effect is pure Benton genius.

[Ms. Yingling]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Blurmp finds a cardboard box in the garbage and decides that it is a time machine. It magically takes him back in time where he invents pizza and has various adventures, including some with dinosaurs. He managed to escape several sticky situations just in time.

This graphic novel was rather nonsensical and will appeal most to elementary readers who will find Blurmp's farts as funny as the king and his imprisoned court jester do, but I will pass on purchase for middle school, where I need more nuanced potty humor.