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"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.

If you are interested in world history or love cats, then this book is for you. In this book, a boy named Jason finds out from his talking cat, that cats do not have nine lives, but instead can visit nine different lives. They have the ability to travel to nine different time periods. Jason convinces his cat, Gareth, to take Jason with him. Every two chapters Gareth and Jason travel to another time period. They end up visiting Egypt in 2700 B.C., Rome and Britain in 55 B.C., Ireland in 411 A.D., Japan in 998 A.D., Italy in 1468, Peru in 1555, The Isle of Man in 1588, Germany in 1600, and America in 1775. In each of these places, Jason and Gareth are involved in famous events or are with famous people from that time period. Sometimes they come across characters that are friendly and helpful, and other times they meet characters that want to destroy them. I liked the fact that not only did this book give the reader information about the time period, it tied in how cats fit into that part of history. For example, in ancient Egypt cats were worshiped. There Gareth was brought to the pharaoh. In Germany in 1600, cats were thought to be demons and were killed. I do not usually like fantasy books, but I liked this book because it is a mix of fantasy and historical fiction.

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.