The First Cat In Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Shawn Harris

Published by Katherine Tegen Books

Summary:  When scientists on Earth discover that a pack of evil rats is eating away at the moon, they realize they only have three days to fix the problem.  The solution?  Send a microchipped cat to the moon to devour the rats.  Thus begins a series of adventures that involve the Moon Queen, a toenail-clipping robot, and a lot of pizza.  This story started out as a collaboration between former high school classmates Barnett and Harris during the 2020 lockdown, and their original videos can be seen on YouTube.  By the end of the book, the rats seem to have been eliminated, but there is sure to be at least one sequel.  316 pages; grades 3-5.

Pros:  As I’ve shown again and again, I have pretty lowbrow literary tastes, so this was a lot of fun for me, and I laughed out loud more than once.  Definitely plan to buy multiple copies for any elementary school library. Dog Man fans, rejoice.

Cons:  Don’t forget to fasten your seatbelt. It’s a wild ride.

June 2, 2022 at 03:43PM Janet Dawson