Rating: 
Summary: Light time travel adventure
Review: "Time Cat" was the first book by classic writer Lloyd Alexander, a fluffy but enjoyable time travel adventure for cat-lovers and historical fantasy buffs alike. It shows a little roughness around the edges, less detailed writing, but kids will enjoy the adventures of Gareth and Jason.Jason is up in his room after a fight with his mother and brother, with only his cat Gareth for company. To Jason's surprise, Gareth suddenly starts speaking to him. He is, unsurprisingly, a magical cat who can travel through time and space -- to any nine lives in the past. He takes Jason on a trip through time, to ancient Egypt where the boy-pharaoh wants to worship him; the Roman empire, where they are recruited by a legion and then captured by Celts; ancient Ireland, where they make enemies with a court magician and friends with a very special saint; Imperial Japan, where a young Emperor is given Gareth and a bunch of kittens as a gift; Renaissance Italy, where the two bump into a talented young painter; Spanish-dominated Peru, where they befriend a scatterbrained, silver-tongued young captain; they introduce a special cat to the Isle of Man; witch-hunters in medieval Germany; and finally making friends with a kindly cat-peddler in 1775 Boston. "Time Cat" has no central plot. Instead, it is a series of vignettes: A couple of chapters are devoted to each time period. It's like an extended daydream, displaying what are presumably the time periods that interest (or possibly frighten) Alexander himself. He also displays some educational material about cats -- how they were seen through history, things about Manx cats, and about all the roles that cats can play in a person's life. Jason is a sympathetic kid, very quiet in nature (except for the brother-punching incident near the beginning) with some clear insights into cats and some fuzzier insights into history. Gareth is acool, calm, wise, serene -- the ideal cat, and he talks too! There are too many supporting characters to cover adequately, but some stand out in particular, such as Diahan, the Irish princess who shows signs of Alexander's later character Eilonwy, and Don Diego, a scatterbrained, homesick young Spaniard who gets things wrong -- but a few things very right. Even people who don't like time travel stories may like this one, for its lack of pretension or faked dilemmas. And for cat lovers, this is a delightful little historical treat.
Rating: 
Summary: For those who like to travel the world.
Review: A book that I liked to read was "Time Cat". The main charater is Jason,the owner of the cat. The cat's name is Gareth. At the beggining of the book Jason and Gareth got into big trouble from Jason's mom. The trouble they got in was that they spilled the paint on the desk. Gareth has the special power to travel the world like a time machine. When they were travelling the world, visiting countries like Egypt, they became slaves. I recommand this book to 5th and 6th graders because there are a few hard words but the rest are easy words. First, when you start reading the book sometimes it's boring to read. But the book gets more exiting. the most exiting part was when they were travelling between all the countries.
Rating:
Summary: Time travelling with a cat
Review: Any animal story attracts my daughter's attention, so we both read the book and learned a lot about cats through the ages, while enjoying nine adventures. Those stories and mini-history lessons stay with us. Its a book my daughter will problably re-read in another year or so.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing story... A touch or reality in fiction
Review: Briliant... Must I say more? The epic adventure of a boy and his cat traveling thought time. Maybe it's a dream, but maybe not. Mystery, Humore and just pure reading pleasure all in one.
Rating:
Summary: The best book...as good as Harry Potter.
Review: Dear Lloyd Alexander, If you're reading this then keep on reading it. I think that THE TIME CAT was so good. I think it was as good as Harry Potter. Because I love cats and I love adventures. I wish that you would make a series from TIME CAT with new characters, like maybe a dog that joins their quest with them. Or some helpful creature that joins them and maybe you could go to Hawaii. I loved the book because Gareth and Jason went to all these amazing places and met all these interesting friends. I love adventures, I love climbing, I love to read adventure books. I usually won't read books that aren't adventure books.
Rating:
Summary: A cat may smile at a king
Review: Hail the hometown hero. Or rather, the home country hero. With the massive collection of British fantasy writers out there, sometimes it's nice to reflect that at least we have Lloyd Alexander. Fantasy author extraordinaire. As prolific as he is talented, his books have remained in circulation since the 1960s. Therefore, it was with great surprise that I consulted the copyright date on his delightful "Time Cat", only to find that my newly published paperback copy was the latest edition of a title that originally came out in 1963. 1963 was a long time ago, yet this book has stayed relatively fresh for a historical fantasy. There are problems with it, no question. But on the whole it's an interesting story that holds up in the end. In "Time Cat" there are two protagonists. One is Gareth, a cat capable of talking and time traveling when it pleases. The other is Jason, Gareth's human friend. At the insistence of Jason, the two set off on a series of cat-based adventures around the globe at different points in the past. They find themselves entertaining a pharoh, running from the witch-obsessed Germans of the 1600s, prisoners of Incas, and friends with Roman conquerors. For the kid who likes cats and likes adventures, this book is ideal. If, on the other hand, the reader doesn't particularly care for felines, they'd do well to choose another book. This is strictly a cat-lover affair. Each time period, in its way, relates to a period of history in the cat species. We see the way the Manx cats got their names, how cats were worshipped in Egypt, and called the devil in the 17th century. Jason and Gareth also proceed to make the acquaintance of several historical figures, from St. Patrick to Leonardo Da Vinci. There is even a chance meeting with an Irish lass that acts so much like the lovely Eilonwy from the "Prydain Chronicles" you find yourself wondering how she hopped out of those books and into this one. The reading level of this book is less difficult than Alexander's "Prydain Chronicles", and makes for a good early fantasy tale. Of course there are problems with the book. Since Alexander is asking us to believe that Jason and Gareth are attending events that happened in the world's past, there's an understanding that what we read is based on fact. So when we read interpretations of the past that are clearly untrue, it's cause for concern. For example, the section on Leonardo Da Vinci needs some work. It is true that Da Vinci did some wonderful character studies of cats. However, as the illegitimate son of a gentleman, Da Vinci was unable to enter into a respectable profession and was, in a sense, forced to rely on his artistic talents. In this book, however, there is no mention of illegitimacy, Da Vinci's father treats him as his natural son, and attempts to get his boy to become a notary. Blatant historical untruths are not overly common in this book, but they do pop up every once in a while, causing the reader a bit of discomfort. And then there are the problems with the time traveling itself. In an effort to get the story rolling higgledy piggledy, Alexander has eschewed any real explanation of how Gareth's time traveling works. This is all well and good, except that it makes one wonder why Gareth and his boy do not simply vanish to another time when they are held captive again and again and again. Constantly coming into danger, one wonders why Gareth chooses only calm moments to travel. Are there rules here we know nothing about? One would beg a little more information. Otherwise you don't feel particularly concerned when our intrepid heroes are in mortal peril. After all, they could just leave. Finally, there are the natives. Jason and Gareth consistently find themselves joining up with invaders of one sort or another. Sometimes they're preparing to invade Briton. Other times, they help their friend the "nice" conquistador. For a 1963 book, Alexander is fairly good about portraying different races. He is sometimes prone to statements like, "These Britons are like big children" (enough to make a Celt's blood boil), but on the whole he does fairly well. I did have a small difficulty with the sympathetic conquistador bit. From reading this book you'd think the Incas and the Spanish lived happily and peacefully together for years to come after Jason and Gareth's visit. And this is not the case. For the child that knows his or her history and has a bit of a kitty obsession, this is an ideal story. There's fighting, adventure, friends, foes, and an interesting plot. It is not a perfect book, but it's worth looking into, no question. To sum up; A swell romp.
Rating:
Summary: A cat may smile at a king
Review: Hail the hometown hero. Or rather, the home country hero. With the massive collection of British fantasy writers out there, sometimes it's nice to reflect that at least we have Lloyd Alexander. Fantasy author extraordinaire. As prolific as he is talented, his books have remained in circulation since the 1960s. Therefore, it was with great surprise that I consulted the copyright date on his delightful "Time Cat", only to find that my newly published paperback copy was the latest edition of a title that originally came out in 1963. 1963 was a long time ago, yet this book has stayed relatively fresh for a historical fantasy. There are problems with it, no question. But on the whole it's an interesting story that holds up in the end. In "Time Cat" there are two protagonists. One is Gareth, a cat capable of talking and time traveling when it pleases. The other is Jason, Gareth's human friend. At the insistence of Jason, the two set off on a series of cat-based adventures around the globe at different points in the past. They find themselves entertaining a pharoh, running from the witch-obsessed Germans of the 1600s, prisoners of Incas, and friends with Roman conquerors. For the kid who likes cats and likes adventures, this book is ideal. If, on the other hand, the reader doesn't particularly care for felines, they'd do well to choose another book. This is strictly a cat-lover affair. Each time period, in its way, relates to a period of history in the cat species. We see the way the Manx cats got their names, how cats were worshipped in Egypt, and called the devil in the 17th century. Jason and Gareth also proceed to make the acquaintance of several historical figures, from St. Patrick to Leonardo Da Vinci. There is even a chance meeting with an Irish lass that acts so much like the lovely Eilonwy from the "Prydain Chronicles" you find yourself wondering how she hopped out of those books and into this one. The reading level of this book is less difficult than Alexander's "Prydain Chronicles", and makes for a good early fantasy tale. Of course there are problems with the book. Since Alexander is asking us to believe that Jason and Gareth are attending events that happened in the world's past, there's an understanding that what we read is based on fact. So when we read interpretations of the past that are clearly untrue, it's cause for concern. For example, the section on Leonardo Da Vinci needs some work. It is true that Da Vinci did some wonderful character studies of cats. However, as the illegitimate son of a gentleman, Da Vinci was unable to enter into a respectable profession and was, in a sense, forced to rely on his artistic talents. In this book, however, there is no mention of illegitimacy, Da Vinci's father treats him as his natural son, and attempts to get his boy to become a notary. Blatant historical untruths are not overly common in this book, but they do pop up every once in a while, causing the reader a bit of discomfort. And then there are the problems with the time traveling itself. In an effort to get the story rolling higgledy piggledy, Alexander has eschewed any real explanation of how Gareth's time traveling works. This is all well and good, except that it makes one wonder why Gareth and his boy do not simply vanish to another time when they are held captive again and again and again. Constantly coming into danger, one wonders why Gareth chooses only calm moments to travel. Are there rules here we know nothing about? One would beg a little more information. Otherwise you don't feel particularly concerned when our intrepid heroes are in mortal peril. After all, they could just leave. Finally, there are the natives. Jason and Gareth consistently find themselves joining up with invaders of one sort or another. Sometimes they're preparing to invade Briton. Other times, they help their friend the "nice" conquistador. For a 1963 book, Alexander is fairly good about portraying different races. He is sometimes prone to statements like, "These Britons are like big children" (enough to make a Celt's blood boil), but on the whole he does fairly well. I did have a small difficulty with the sympathetic conquistador bit. From reading this book you'd think the Incas and the Spanish lived happily and peacefully together for years to come after Jason and Gareth's visit. And this is not the case. For the child that knows his or her history and has a bit of a kitty obsession, this is an ideal story. There's fighting, adventure, friends, foes, and an interesting plot. It is not a perfect book, but it's worth looking into, no question. To sum up; A swell romp.
Rating: 
Summary: Pages of nothing
Review: I HATED this book! Hated hated hated! It was stupid. The chapters are boring and don't go anywhere. Not enough information is given. Worst of all, Gareth AND Jason are bossy. Jason gives everyone he meets a stern lecture on cat care. The Japanese emporer can't even dress his cats without Jason's "opinions". Gareth is just as bad. He doesn't act like a cat-he acts like a father! God, shut up both of you! They both make the whole book one long educationl cesspool. The ending is just as bad. Gareth gets lectury about how Jason needs to "grow up." If anything, Jason needs to loosen up ... This was such a bad book. I could go on and on. Don't buy it unless you want to build up a lot of rage.
Rating:
Summary: groovy
Review: I loved it! It was very exciting! I couldn't put it down. I would definetly recomend it.
Rating:
Summary: Time Tripping. . .
Review: I picked up this book simply becuase it had a cat on the cover, and ended up thinking it was one of the best books I had ever read. The historical facts and cultural lessons captivated me, and at the beginning of each new section, you get a sort "Ooh, what kind of trouble will they get in this time?" feeling. A great book for kids 8-11.
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