Space Cat

Space Cat #1

by Ruthven Todd, Paul Galdone (Illustrator)

Everyone goes to the moon in stories these days - why not a cat? So we have the ambitious young cat, Flyball, going off in a rocket and having extraordinary adventures. He is a delight in his space suit - a descendant perhaps of that famous adventurer Puss in Boots.

On the moon he becomes, of course, a super-cat, rescuing his master and finding surprising things in a cave. Children will love Flyball's story - grown-ups, reading it aloud, will see in it a slight take-off on the popular science-fiction thread.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cats, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Fantasy, Adventure

72 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Ruthven Todd was a poet, author of children's books, and a member of the surrealist school of art. He also wrote detective fiction under the pseudonym R.T. Campbell.

Reviews

[Anitabot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest book about a cat in space ever written.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally charming text and illos, of how Flyball the cat went to the Moon, in 1951. Reading the 1952 HB, likely a first ed.

Chapter One. Little Gray Kitten sneaks on board a jetliner (this is written in 1951, mind). Takeoff! His snug sleeping spot tilts! He meows! A friendly man picks him up, hands him to the stewardess. No one claims him. Man adopts him, names him "Flyball."

Chap. 2. Call from the Colonel. "Late from your leave *again*, Stone?" Flyball takes over the Rocket base with his super cat-powers! "Ground duty was fine for those who liked it." Not for Flyball!
"Purr, Purr, I go up in a jet
And I fly far faster than sound!"

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5478911...
Love the little cat hammock! Even if it looks pretty precarious for Kitty's acceleration couch....

Flyball has fun on the Moon, and explores a hidden cave, filled with strange Moon life! Captain Fred squeezes in, takes a fall & cracks his helmet. Flyball patches the leak and saves the day!

"The Moon is only the start,
Says Flyball the Flier
Oh, no one ever can guess
How far we can fly!"

Need I say, if you love cats and love SF, this is the book for you ?

Thanks to Montzalee for the reco!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This edition was published in 1991 but I read it literally my lifetime ago. It was my favorite book at age 6 or 7. Was already hooked on sci fi and cats, of course. Wonderful illustrations. The respect shown Space Cat by the humans in the story puts humans in a wonderful light. Also loved Space Cat Meets Mars as well as Space Cat Visits Venus. Ruthven Todd, by the way, also wrote an excellent essay on William Blake which I read about 40 years later.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child, and the prospect of re-reading it as adult delights me! Off to make an Inter-Library Loan request right now!

UPDATE


Still awesome! My cats prefer The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, though.

[Allyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved these books as a kid. They were part of my early intro to scifi. I still loved them when I read them to my sons. The cat stows away with his astronaut owner on a trip on his rocket ship. Priceless.

[K. Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book at age 7, after checking it out from the school library. This book, with its 3 companions (Space Cat Visits Venus, etc) are the first science fiction books I ever read, and I can trace my love of that genre to this series.

[Evan Hammerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the defining books of my life. Read it during the Johnson administration. Named one of our pet cats Flyball after it!

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here: Space Cat was written and published back in 1952. It tells the story of a kitten named Flyball who manages to adopt an astronaut- still called rocketeers back then- and ends up going to the moon with his human. Flyball is a kitty I can love. He is very adventurous and determined. Even when the humans want to stop him from doing something, he finds a way.
He, like me in my palace, rules the roost. He knows he is in charge and his human would not be able to exist without him. In fact, Flyball does save his human’s life. Some humans accept the inevitable quicker than others but he wins over all of them.
It is fascinating reading this 60 plus years after it was written. This was long before any living creature was shot into space and nearly twenty years before the moon landing. Naturally, since it is a fantasy, there are lots of elements that are whimsical. However, on other things, it gets close to the mark.
Overall, it is simply a charming story with lovely characters and delightful artwork. It would be a welcome addition for readers young and old. I give it a hearty five purrs and two paws up.

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly delightful children's science fiction book that was a tremendous influence on me when I read it as a child. Tells the story of a stray young cat adopted by an astronaut, given the clever name Flyball, his adventures at the space center, and on an exciting journey to the moon.

The Moon is only the start,
Says Flyball the flier.
We'll reach the stars yet
Going higher and higher.
We'll voyage right round space
To the ends of the sky.
Oh, no one ever can guess
How far we will fly!

[Kris Sellgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a utterly charming story about a kitten adopted by an astronaut. The story was written in 1952, at a level we would now call young adult. It was written before NASA existed, so the astronaut is described as a military pilot, living in the desert at a military base, who flies jets and trains for space flight. The plot is solid science fiction, written before much was known from unmanned spacecraft about other planets. The kitten is a stowaway on the first orbital flight that its owner takes on a rocket, and is distressed by the g-forces. So when the kitten shows his determination to go on the first Moon flight (by repeatedly sneaking onto the rocket), the base engineers construct a pressure suit, complete with helmet and oxygen supplies, for the cat. There is an adorable illustration of the cat chasing droplets of milk in zero gee through the cockpit of the rocket. The space cat discovers sentient creatures living on the Moon, who help the cat to save the human astronaut when he is injured in a rock fall. All this is done while leaving the cat a (very smart) cat, who doesn’t talk and isn’t magic in some other way, and who has cat-like opinions on dogs, tuna, and the merits of meeting politicians. I loved the little songs that the cat makes up, along the lines of “Oh, I’m going to the Moon, purr! purr! In a rocket not a balloon, purr! purr!” This is a wonderful and classic young adult cat story.

[Rosemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining story about a clever and cute cat.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half of the idea is 1950s futurist science fiction (conceivable, though now known to be wrong), and half is ridiculous fantasy (inconceivable even then).

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flyball is pure awesomeness!

[Simone van den Bergh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy little quick-read, just love cats and space, so space cat is amazing, nicely written as if it to be 1969 all over again and with a pinch of science fiction and some moon mystery, owh yeah there are more volumes, happy days

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably my very favorite book when I was six. I was into cats. The science in the book is probably pretty silly now but the book was written before all that space stuff even happened. And it was written for children. And it was about a cat.

[Rowena Verdin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book and loving it so much, I hid it in the shelves in our school library so that no one else can get it!

[Bruce Arthurs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the very first book I remember reading, at age 6. It established a love for both science fiction and cats ever since.

[Eunice · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's not to love about a cat that goes into space? 😅😁

[Navi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a cat named Flyball that is always up for a good adventure. He is fascinated by space and ends up "working" at a space station and then eventually goes to the moon.

This is a great introduction to science fiction for young readers. I loved Flyball and his conceited feline attitude!

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Dan Gorman]

Don't ask me why, but this book floated (no pun intended) into my head again after years and years. I Googled "space cat," and it turned out to be the book title. It's a silly and sweet children's story from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. I remember enjoying it immensely.

[Nick Navarre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little book about a cat with a desire to see more. This book was published in 1952, 6 years before we landed on the moon! An interesting thing is to see the world through the eyes of people who didn't know what was out there. It's an easy quick sci-fi read with some great moments for Flyball! (That's the cats name).

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Galdone draws a cute cat. 5 stars for the cat drawings tbh.

Very charming to read a story about going to the moon that was written in 1952. You could just say there were lots of plants and intelligent globe-shaped creatures that lived there and no one could 100% deny you.

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in print, this is a charming story of a cat that can't stop adventuring. The original 1950s illustrations are beautifully rendered and endearing. A book to treasure.

[Angypants · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this for the cover and wasn’t disappointed.

[Brian McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty unrealistic but very charming. Cute illustrations. Adults who like this book may also like the story "Space-time for Springers" by Fritz Leiber.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1952 and still a great classic. Paul Galdone's black-and-white illustrations are brilliant.

[Mackenzie Marrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space Cat! Space Cat! Space Cat! Space Cat! Space Cat! Space Cat!

[Anna Smithberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting piece of early juv sci-fi. I'm charmed by the thought of an explorer cat going to the moon with his pilot human. And it was fascinating to see what people in 1952 thought would make sense as being on the moon. The treatment of zero g was solid, but the strange bubble-life forms on the moon were not. Still a cute, quick read, and the illustrations are charming. I did find all the little songs the cat makes up pretty annoying by the end, because seriously. No.

The copy I read is from the public library, and it appears to be an original library binding edition. and the jacket flaps speak more directly to the consumer than modern jacket copy does. The jacket blurb says children will love it and that adults reading aloud will notice how it is a "slight take-off of the popular science fiction trend." The author and illustrator bios also comment directly on how there work makes the book marketable, which just feels so awkward now and is this fabulous time capsule piece that my book nerd heart enjoyed.

[Michael Rodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful children's book about a young cat who stows away on a rocket test flight and is then adopted by the astronaut pilot. The astronaut then takes the cat on a trip to the moon. Considering the book was written before any true spaceflight had had taken place, the science and technical aspects were very forward thinking. Spacecat is written from the Cats point of view throughout. This, along with the sequels (Space Cat Visits Mars, ...Visits to Venus, ...and the Kittens) were a literary staple for me in elementary school reading each 3 or 4 times. I enjoyed them so much I obtained them for my own children to read.

[Catskill Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Childhood favorites! I just reread these for the first time since 2nd-3rd grade. They are WONDERFUL. I had to order them through Inter-library loan. There was not one copy in the entire NYC library system.

The writing is sophisticated and fun. Todd knows his cats. And the illustrations are wonderful.

Treat yourself.