Customer Reviews

Binky the Space Cat (A Binky Adventure)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

We can't wait for Binky's second adventure! This kept my 10 year old daughter, eight year old son and me spellbound for the short duration it took to read it. The illustrations were wonderful and the story was captivating.

I love this book, my just six year old loves it and my husband loves it. Binky is laugh out loud funny as he protects his humans from the not-so-scary alien invasion. My son reads a bit above his age level and I've had a hard time finding graphic novels that are both age appropriate and that fit his reading level. I hope that we see more of Binky.

This one is a laugh a page. Never mind that we are a cat family and just know some of our kitties think and act like Binky, this book will charm you and give little ones big giggles with Binky's shenanigans, all perfectly targeted for ages 6-10. This graphic novel format is a great way to encourage reading. And beneath all of this wonderful, engaging and fun adventure is the maxim: there's no place like home and family!

I'm not a regular reader of graphic novels--as a matter of fact, I'd pick them up only if nothing else is available. (I don't have anything against them, I just find them visually overwhelming for me...) However, this was handed to me by a friend and given the simple format, I thought I'd give it a try. It was so cleverly crafted and so funny, I read it in minutes. A great read particularly for cat lovers, but anyone really could enjoy this book.

Binky is your everyday-variety football-shaped cat who's out to do good, save the world, and keep his humans safe. He also dreams of traveling deep into outer space (which, as he understands it, is the world outside his front door). His dreams start to come true when he finds his application to the Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel at the bottom of a bag of cat food.

The aliens Binky must protect the world from are known as bugs to human beings, but Binky can see the truth. He knows that he has an obligation to serve his humans and offer his services in return for food and cuddling.

Artist and author Ashley Spires started her career with children's books, but this is her first graphic novel. It's sweet and very funny (as usual in the eternal debate in whether dogs or cats are better, it will help if you like cats already--although that's not absolutely essential), and it seems that Spires is launching Binky into an ongoing series with this book.

The content is entirely kid-friendly, of course, and geared toward much younger readers. Older children will enjoy Spires's lovely cartoon drawings, done in hushed shades that are rendered, we are told, in "ink, watercolor, and cat fur." Parents will find a lot to enjoy in the story, too, a good sign in case they are tasked with reading the book over and over again to their young ones.

Binky's a typical cat in most other respects, and that makes him pretty lovable and fun to read about (presuming, of course, that you are one of those aforementioned cat people). Either way, this very funny, very charming book (the illustrations are great too) promises to launch a worthy feline into kids' hearts--if not quite into outer space.


-- John Hogan

Great read for my 9 year old son who has a learning disability. Sentences were short and easy to read, plenty of pictures, and the subject matter kept him engaged and laughing. We can't wait to read more about Binky.

Binky is an indoor cat...and his warped worldview is a result of this limited life experience. To him, "Outer Space" is anything outside the front door (including his own front yard) and the aliens invading our planet are nothing more than common houseflies.

This book is surprisingly sophisticated, with clever humor, darling graphic style, and an engaging central character. The reading level is just perfect for kids at a reading level of 2nd grade and up (regardless of age) and will stimulate interest from many reluctant readers.

Binky the Space Cat is a great combo of a beginner reader & a graphic novel.
Funny, quirky writing about a spunky kitty. A book you will enjoy reading with the kids.

This book was great. I enjoyed it alot. I can't wait to buy it for my five year old niece this Christmas. It was funny and very cute.

Binky had been scrounging around in his kitty food bag and at the very bottom he found an application to become a "Space Cat." It was the perfect way to stop aliens, which his human being family thought were bugs, so he sent away for his instructions on how to become "Space Cat qualified." He'd been waiting for weeks and finally his instructions from F.U.R.S.T. ("Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel") had arrived. It was time to slink into a closet and start reading. He even got his "Official Space Cat Badge." He was very special now, quite unlike those regular cats you see hanging around a house chomping on a ball of yarn or walking by with a mouse hanging out of their mouth. YUK!

If he was going to be a space cat, he'd just better get going, do some research and start building his spacecraft. After all if Binky was going to "battle alien creatures" and "explore unknown places" it wasn't going to work if he had to hang around the house, a place he'd never left before. He took very good care of his human beings, but sometime every cat just has to follow his star. Binky got the blueprints out of the package and began to gather up materials to build his very own Rocket Ship. The instruction said this could be accomplished "with Things You Can Steal from Your Humans." Sounded like a plan. Toilet paper rolls, a fork, batteries from the remote . . . into his top secret hiding place in his covered litter box. Was his plan going to succeed or poop out?

This cute, funny and adorable story about Binky, the cat with a dream to "blast off into outer space" will get the most reluctant reader reading and laughing at the adventurous kitty cat. Anyone who wonders what cats really think will know by the time they get to the end of the book. Binky, who appears to be an average cat just like yours, will surprise you when it is revealed how truly ingenious cats are. The artwork, "rendered in ink, watercolor and cat fur," was very appealing. The author has noted that "no aliens, bugs or Space Cats were harmed in the making of this book," save a mosquito and a fruit fly. This is a hilarious little book that even adult humans may be tempted to read in their top secret place!