In my last review I talked about my love for dinosaurs, but I also really love space and cats. So what could be better than a cat that goes to space? Well, nothing!

Space Cat was written by Ruthven Todd, illustrated by Paul Galdone, and first published in 1952. I want to point out that this was 17 years before humans actually walked on the moon.

The story follows an adorable little kitten named Flyball, who wants to travel to the moon one day. He sees it up in the sky every night, and wonders what it would be like to go there. His dreams unexpectedly come true after he is adopted by a pilot/astronaut, who finds himself traveling to the moon.

Flyball, being a cat, isn’t supposed to be traveling in a rocket to the moon, but since he is deemed to be lucky, he’s allowed to go. Plus, no one can really stop him from wandering into the rocket anyway.

Once they get to the moon, they embark on some wild adventures, and discover things they never expected. I won’t give too much away, because it is an exciting and warm-hearted story, but suffice to say, it’s not very realistic.

I know that science fiction is rarely accurate—that’s why I love it so much, because it lets you escape reality—but just remember that this book was written well before we made it to space. No one knew what would be found on the moon, so the setting presented in this book was likely a very good guess as to what would be there.

Space Cat is an enjoyable story for children and adults alike. It’s also a great introduction to science fiction for young readers. This would make a wonderful bedtime story, or a book for kids and parents to read through together. It’d be even better if you had your own kitten to cuddle with while reading.

Needless to say, if you haven’t read Space Cat before, you should get your hands on a copy, because it’s out of this world.

Thank you to the publisher for an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley.