SPACE CAT
by Doug Cushman & illustrated by Doug Cushman
Working up an idea he claims he had when he was ten, Cushman introduces a resourceful feline space explorer, with a feckless sidekick robot named Earl. Forced by a leaky fuel tank to land on an unknown planet, Space Cat begs for fuel from the local king, Zorp, but gets the brush-off as Zorp claims to need it all for machines to clean up the environment. Disdain turns to gratitude, however, when one of those machines starts to fall apart, and Space Cat finds a good use for Earl’s latest culinary experiment, gluey fish and jelly noodles. Fans of Commander Toad will sign on happily to this promising start, which features lots of aliens in oogy shapes and colors, a Fritz Lang–ish robot who really needs to be kept out of the kitchen, and an intrepid tiger-striped Lead clad in a nifty spacesuit. (Easy reader. 6-8)