Today’s classic in print is the second slim volume in the
Space Cats series,
Space Cat Visits Venus,
written by Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. This particular book
was first published in 1955 and has recently been republished by Dover. We
probably enjoyed the story of Space Cat’s visit to Venus even more than the
original
Space Cat, which means we
liked it quite a lot.
The plot
We first met the little tabby named Flyball as a kitten in
his first book. Now he is grown up and no one tries to tell him anymore that he
shouldn’t go into space. As if he would listen anyway. In a remarkably short
period of time, people have built a whole city on the surface of the moon (we
do have to wonder how they managed to get funding for that, but let’s not talk
about money), and they’re preparing a mission to Venus. Once again astronaut
Fred Stone and his sidekick Flyball will head off to explore.
Flyball has hopes that there will be lots of mice to chase
on Venus, as there are none on the moon and that’s a real drag. Even if there don’t
turn out to be mice on Venus, Flyball does have some improvements to enjoy. He
has a brand-new hammock that has been built to be even more comfy than his
original homemade one, and he and Fred have a new spaceship that has an actual name—
Halley.
Not surprisingly, they find Venus to be a strange place with
an ammonia atmosphere (at least at high altitudes), a beach of blue pebbles,
and sentient plants that seem to be leading them in a certain direction. Oh,
and the plants think at them. There
is a certain type of moss that enables telepathic communication between plants and
Earthlings and even between cat and human. All Flyball and Fred have to do is
keep a bit of moss with them and they’ll be able to think at each other all the
time. This is neat at first, but if you think about it, having someone be able
to hear all your thoughts would get tiresome, not to mention embarrassing,
after a while.
It turns out the Venus plants (and the little blue Venus
mouse that Flyball is not supposed to
chase!) need some help from the Earthlings. Soon Earth and Venus are off to an early
promising relationship of mutual aid and cooperation. The cynic in old SoLT
thinks that in reality humans would be overtaken by greed and ruin the whole
planet while exploiting its amazing resources for profit. But this is supposed
to be a fun and positive story, so check your cynicism at the door, please.
Our verdict
Space Cat Visits Venus
is indeed a fun book. We read it in one evening and found the story and
illustrations every bit as delightful as the original Space Cat. Once again Flyball goes off on a space adventure,
discovering previously unknown life forms. He and Fred are brave and curious
but also respectful and compassionate toward the life they meet—not a bad
lesson for humans to learn, we think.
So if you’re looking for a light read for yourself or a
great chapter book for the cat- or space-loving kid in your life, we highly
recommend Space Cat Visits Venus.
A
note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up.
One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three
or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!
The
link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this
link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!
