SPACE CATS TO THE RESCUE

Cats! In! Spaaaaaaaace!

The Earth is about to be destroyed by an asteroid the size of a hockey rink, and with the Interplanetary Defense In Orbit Team out of commission after gorging on irradiated sweets, its only hope is the cat-stronauts. Rags, Sassy, Mittens, and Honeydew aren’t special, intelligent, talking cats; they’re merely common housecats. But they are the only available creatures with the extraordinary talents of the indisposed human astronauts, who always land on their feet, are skilled at squeezing into small spaces, and have “the same annoying habit of knocking things off of tabletops.” The joke-packed space adventure is the entertaining frame for a series of well-crafted puzzles, all but one offering a flawless solving experience. The 16 brainteasers hit a wide variety of different skill sets. A word ladder requires both definitions and letter manipulation, a kibble-themed cipher teaches basic code-breaking, and another puzzle requires simple number skills. Visual-manipulation puzzles, a crossword, a word search, and multiple mazes keep the solving process from getting dull. Puzzles draw on school skills, though the constant wisecracks keep them from feeling educational. Some answers aren’t detailed in the text, requiring a look at the answer key (which doesn’t always explain the method for finding the solution). A multiracial group of children who appear on the cover are not actually characters; the space authorities who narrate the story and recruit the cat-stronauts also appear to have a variety of racial backgrounds. (Note: Revisions made to the book after the publication of this review result in a now 100% flawless solving experience for all puzzles.)

This witty space adventure provides a comical setting for high-quality, entertaining, age-appropriate puzzles.