The First Cat in Space Series
The First Cat in Space Series
By Mac Barnett
Illustrated by Shawn Harris
Katherine Tegen Books, 2022
Graphic Novel (age 7-12)
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DESCRIPTION
THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE ATE PIZZA (Book #1)
New York Times bestselling Mac Barnett and Caldecott Honor award-winning illustrator Shawn Harris turn their massively popular The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza live cartoon into an action-packed and hysterical graphic novel series--perfect for fans of Dav Pilkey, Raina Telgemeier, and Jeff Kinney. A Kids' Indie Next List Pick and an Indie Bestseller!
Something terrible is happening in the skies! Rats are eating the MOON!
There's only ONE hero for the job, a bold and fearsome beast bioengineered in a secret lab to be the moon's savior and Earth's last hope! And that hero is . . . a cat. A cat who will be blasted into space!
Accompanied by the imperious Moon Queen and LOZ 4000, a toenail clipping robot, the First Cat in Space journeys across a fantastic lunar landscape in a quest to save the world. Will these unlikely heroes save the moon in time? Can a toenail-clipping robot find its purpose in the vast universe? And will the First Cat in Space ever eat some pizza?
THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE AND THE SOUP OF DOOM (Book #2)
The Moon Queen has been poisoned—by SOUP.
With few she can trust in her own royal court, she and First Cat will have to journey alone to find the antidote. If only LOZ 4000 were still with them . . . But our once-heroic toenail clipping robot is on the run, looking for new purpose in this vast universe.
Unbeknownst to our trio, secret forces are working against them. In a world of villainous cowboys, high-speed chases, and falling pianos, can our iconic trio find their way back to one another and save the Moon Queen before it’s too late? And who would want to poison her? Is Captain Babybeard, the adorable baby pirate, in this one?
THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE AND THE WRATH OF THE PAPERCLIP (Book #3)
Award-winning creators Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris are back with the third volume in the bestselling The First Cat in Space graphic novel series! Prepare to meet an evil paperclip, space dinos, and another adorable bunny. Mac & Shawn also reveal their tried-and-true method of scoring free dessert at restaurants.
4.5 billion years ago . . . an AI paperclip named CheckMate was designed to fix grammatical errors. Exhausted of correcting "who” vs. “whom,” it concocted a plan to eliminate spelling errors once and for all. All life-forms would be turned into something beautiful, practical, perfect: a paperclip.
Thankfully, it was buried in the debris. Long forgotten . . . until it was accidentally freed. Now CheckMate has invaded every computer on Earth and is bent on fulfilling its dastardly plot. There's only one trio who can save the day: the First Cat in Space, the Moon Queen, and LOZ 4000. But when CheckMate zoops First Cat's spacesuit, our titular hero is now powerless. The fate of the world depends on...a regular little kitty cat.
Will everyone in the universe become school supplies?!
THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE AND THE Baby Pirate’s Revenge (Book #4)
Out in hardcover November 4, 2025
In the fourth installment of Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris’s New York Times-bestselling series our heroes—First Cat, LOZ 4000, and the Moon Queen— encounter Captain Babybeard and his crew of swashbuckling pirates.
After Captain Babybeard steals a treasure map from the Queen of the Moon, the notorious pirate sees nothing but piles of gold in his future. But a mutiny, led by his first mate, the Martian Pirate James Plantain, leaves Babybeard marooned on a deserted island. Betrayed by his crew, the little captain seeks an unlikely alliance...
Will Captain Babybeard get revenge? Will First Cat, the Moon Queen, and LOZ 4000 recover their treasure map? Or will the moon fall into the hands of a nefarious banana?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR
Mac Barnett is the author of the Brixton Brother series and several picture books, including Guess Again! and Chloe and the Lion (both illustrated by Adam Rex), and the New York Times bestseller Extra Yarn. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center, and founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers. Mac lives in Oakland, California.
Shawn Harris's first illustrated book, Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, received seven starred reviews, was an Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book, an ALA Notable, and a PW Best Book of the Year. His other picture books include Eggers's What Can a Citizen Do, which was a Time Magazine Best Children's Book, Everyone's Awake by Colin Meloy, A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett, and his own author-illustrated works Have You Ever Seen a Flower? and Doing Business. Harris also occasionally moonlights as singer/songwriter of the popular Oakland, California, band The Matches, whose early 2000s album art sparked his illustration career.
REVIEWS
Obvious work of creative joy. A definite winner in the age of Dog Man.--Booklist
Barnett is cruising comfortably in his usual lane of quirky humor, and Harris matches the absurdity with cleverly composed illustrations that balance visual humor with narrative necessity. Kids who have graduated from Binky the Cat will be delighted to join another furball on intergalactic adventures.--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Epic lunacy.--Kirkus Reviews
'In full, vivid color, the loose cartoon style exudes an infectious glee, flawlessly matching Barnett’s freewheeling, absurdist humor and plotting.' —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'Readers looking for the outer space high jinks and gentle humor of Brockington’s Catstronauts and the imaginative and fantastical worldbuilding of Andrews’s This Was Our Pact need look no further than this laugh-out-loud tale of the first cat in space.' —School Library Journal (starred review)
'The surprisingly earnest themes of friendship and individual purpose combined with the absurd humor should resonate with this audience of readers.' —Horn Book Magazine
“A hilarious graphic novel.” —New York Times




