I'm a little uncomfortable with the history. Granted I haven't studied much world history since I was in school during the 1970s, but this seemed awfully comfortable with cliches and stereotypes. On the other hand, it's better than the virtually nothing some kids get. I did like how it got a little more complex at the end, finally acknowledging that maybe the kid would eventually miss his own home and family (at first he was pretty blase'). Definitely a juvenile - maybe one step more challenging More...

Summary: Gareth's definitely not an ordinary cat. For one thing, he can talk.For another, he's got the power to travel through time- Anywhere, any time, any country, any century, Gareth tells Jason. And in the wink of a very special cat's eye, they're off. From ancient Egypt to Japan, the land of young Leonardo da Vinci to the town of a woman accused of witchcraft, Jason and Gareth are whisked from place to place and friend to foe. Full of fun, excitement, and a good dose of history, here's a fa More...

“Anchored to the Ankh”

In a series of nine adventures—each in a different era and setting-–Lloyd Alexander presents an entertaining light read for cat lovers. Having been sent to his room in disgrace by exasperated parents, Jason sulks with only his faithful cat, Gareth, for consolation. Amazingly the cat with the design of the Ankh in white fur on his neck, suddenly addresses him, offering a once-in-a-lifetime deal to travel back in time—with stipulations and conditions of course. Eager to esc More...

Summary: This was a wonderful story about a cat that has nine lives. The cat talks and has magical powers. His owner Jason finds out that this cat can talk after he decided to buy him as a pet. The cat tells Jason that he can take him anywhere through time. The story portrays these two characters as best friends. They travel through time. They go to ancient Egypt, Japan and even meeting Leonardo DiVinCi. and more! On their way through time, they meet a woman who does witchcraft. The woman teache More...

I was disappointed by his treatment of the Celts of Britain and Ireland, he made the cat look down on them for things that all cultures did and do.

“These Britons are like big children. They make up stories about things. The way they’d like them to happen. Whether they really happened that way doesn’t matter.” Gareth, The Time Cat, Lloyd Alexander

This is an unfair statement seeing as I can recall, Yggdrasil the world tree of the Norse, the legend of Romulus and Remus and the events leading to th More...

I loved this book- Lloyd Alexander certainly knows a lot about history- and cats. He captures the quirky behavior and manerisms of cats perfectly, and really makes me want to go home and spend some good quality time with my own cats. In Time Cat, the reader follows a boy and his cat as they travel through time to experience many monumental moments in history. The book devotes two or three chapters to each time period- just enough to get the point accross and move on. It is also historically acur More...

Jason's cat Gareth takes him on a time-travel tour through ancient Egypt, Rome/Gaul/Briton, pre-Patrick Ireland, old Japan, Leonardo's Italy, the Isle of Man around the Armada, Spanish-ravaged Incan South America, old Germany and pre-Revolutionary War Boston. The two things that give the time hopping some plot are the different reactions of cultures to cats, getting to know the ways of a cat, and Jason getting to know himself a little better. Since they aren't in any one culture very long, don't More...

So I was bored at work one day and didn't have my book in tow - so I pulled this off the student bookshelves and started reading it. You can do that with this novel - read it with breaks in between. And that was the biggest problem I had with this book.

You have a boy, Jason, and his cat, Gareth, and throughout the entire thing you end up with no sense whatsoever of either's personality. One day Jason asks his cat if he has nine lives, and instead of acting shocked when the cat responds, there i More...

Time Cat did not do what I was hoping it would. The plot is very thin: after a brief introduction of a few pages where main character Jason discovers via simple conversation that his cat, Gareth, can talk, AND time travel, off they go to Ancient Egypt. In Egypt, Jason has to teach the Pharaoh that cats can't be commanded. Once the Pharaoh is taught his lesson--over the course of two chapters--off they go to the next period in time.

The time periods are awfully simplified and unrealistic. No one l More...

I had heard that I would enjoy Lloyd Alexander and, when I asked for his books, I mistakenly assumed that he wrote one long series... As a result, I ended up with this book, which is great for young readers. It walks you through different periods and famous people/locations (even if the descriptions are a bit unvaried and sterotypical). As an adult reader, it left something to be desired.

After publishing five adult books between 1955-1963, Time Cat is Alexander's first book for children, a quick trip through history on a fun journey through time with Jason, and his cat, Gareth, who doesn't have nine lives but can visit nine lives in different times in history. Jason learns about other cultures and the importance of thinking for himself as well as "finding out a part of what you have to know to be a grown-up."

The two of them have some fantastic adventures traveling from Ancient E More...

Gareth, a fire-eyed black cat, with a streak of white fur in the shape of an ankh, belongs to Jason. One day when Jason is banished to his room for disobedience, Gareth snuggles up to him and begins talking! Jason always suspected he could talk (when he was good and ready to do it)...and so begins Gareth explanation of a cat's 'nine lives'. Not really lives, but the chance to visit nine historically diverse time periods. Gareth agrees to take Jason along (with a glance into his mesmerizing eyes) More...

All cats can talk if they want, but most cats don't wish to do so. Gareth, however, is unique: he talks to Jason, his boy companion (cats don't have owners), and takes Jason with him on nine adventures, one for each of his nine lives. They start in ancient Egypt, and travel forward through history in leaps and bounds, experiencing some of history's most pivotal ages and meeting some of its most colorful characters.

It's a delightful romp through history, and my daughter and I found occasion to p More...

Time Cat is partly fantasy and partly historical fiction. Jason (a modern/1960s boy) goes on a series of adventures with his cat Gareth. Gareth tells him that 1) cats can talk, and 2) cats can magically experience nine different lives through their ability to time travel. Gareth takes Jason with him as he time travels, and they visit some remarkable times and places, including Egypt (2700 BC), Rome and Britain (50 BC), Ireland (411 AD), Italy (1468), Peru (1555), The Isle of Man (1588), Germany More...

Lloyd Alexander has always been one of my favorite authors - his Taran Wanderer series were the first chapter books that I read on my own. I remember my mother saying that she knew reading with me was about to change when I started reading ahead in these books - we might read aloud together in the future, but more often than not I'd probably head off on my own.

I really like another one of his books, The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian - so much that the last cat I had with my folks before I More...

Review originally posted at ReaWrite.com as part of Back to School week.

Time Cat is about a boy and his cat Gareth, who uses his nine lives to travel back through history. I always recalled this book as being the title that really got me into history and while I’m still sure it did that, I now know that a lot of what I learned wasn’t that accurate, but still a lot of fun.

The main character Jason is fairly bland, but he serves as a great host in order for the reader to imagine themselves on fanta More...

Guest Review by Emma age 8
Time cat is about a boy named Jason and his cat Gareth. One day, Jason is sent to his room for punching his little brother. Frustrated and angry, he says “I wish I had nine lives.” And to his surprise, Gareth says “I do too.”

This is the start of nine magical adventures for Jason and Gareth that take them from Ancient Egypt to America just before the Revolution.

What I liked best about this book is that it’s very suspenseful. I couldn’t put it down! I really cared about t More...

Lloyd Alexander is a great storyteller! I would give it 3 1/2 stars. (the the author is outstanding and the story is fun.)It was a pretty good story, I think it is my strong aversion to cats that influences how much I like this book. The children would beg me to keep reading it, so that is a good sign. I like that the chapters are pretty much self contained, so a couple of days could go by (while we read other "history" things) between readings.

We read this book for a lunch time history read alo More...

Read this with Kinnell but gave up about half way through, neither of us was feeling it.

It's a book about a kid and his talking, time-traveling cat. They visit different historical eras (Ancient Egypt, Feudal Japan, etc) and...not really solve problems? Just kind of visit, meet some people, get semi-involved in cat-centric situations, and then take off? It's all kind of low-stakes, when things get hot they just move on to the next era. The portraits of the different historical cultures aren't o More...

Gareth a cat with orange eyes and a white ankh on his chest may seem like an ordinary cat to his owner Jason. But, when Jason is sent to his room for disobedience he descoveres that Gareth can talk, not only that, he can also travel to any place, any time, anywhere. Gareth explains that that cats do not really have nine lives but they can go to nine places in time. Together Gareth and Jason go on an adventure through time from ancient Egypt to the witch burning in the early U.S.

I think that Ll More...

The problem with Time Cat is that it jumps around too much. We only spend two or three chapters in each time and place, barely long enough to get a sense of where we are and who the characters are before Gareth jumps us along to the next major event. Jason mentions making friends in each of these times, and the reader is left wondering what friends. We never met any friends. Just names attached to vague characters, gone in an instant. Even Jason and Gareth aren't very well developed, though with More...

This is another one of those classics of children's literature that I didn't really read as a kid. I don't know. I've never really been a cat person (except for Socks. And Chester in the Bunnicula). They make me sneeze.

But, anyway. Back to the book. It's on our summer reading list this year and they keep coming out with nice new covers. The short summation is: a boy and his cat travel through time and visit a handful of different cultures and time periods. And at the end (spoiler?) you have a m More...

This is the book that time and time again makes me want to be a writer. There's something about the story that Alexander crafts... it certainly isn't the main characters, for they are simple (as, in a children's book, they should be). I think part of it is the history, and part of it is the magic. Alexander is known for his Black Cauldron series, but like any good writer, he continues to shine in other areas as well. Time Cat is no exception. Alexander plays with the idea that a cat does have ni More...

Okay I liked the premise but not the execution. They just seem to be jumping around to different times and countries without any real direction. Reads more like a series of short stories.

I bought this (well, a cute '60s paperback version that's not on goodreads) because I loved the idea of a time traveling cat that takes a boy along on his adventures. Once I started reading, it reminded me of the TV show Quantum Leap. When the boy and cat visit other times and places, they speak the language and fit right in, and they help the locals solve a problem. It's a fun premise, but Quantum Leap did it better. Some of the visits in Time Cat felt a bit rushed and stereotypical. I think it More...

From the same author of The Prydain Chronicles, this book has a similar sense of adventure that draws readers in. It is obviously written for a younger audience, and so would be a good recommendation for children who are comfortable with chapter books. Although it may not be a completely historically accurate tale, the book gives readers a taste of world history which hopefully leaves them with the urge to learn more about the events they see in this story. With a main character who is a time tr More...

Not for the logical-minded but more for the easily content. What I mean is that it's obvious you won't find a lot of realistic situations in this kid's book. I enjoyed it when I was younger and one day I will get it again. The one issue I remember when reading it for the second time is that I remember errors in the book. I don't know what else to say about this but I don't think it was too bad. It's still a good book but I am reminded of people who get displeased with sudden mistakes like that. More...

This was yet another book my son read for his book reports in the 5th grade this past year.

I am not a fan of this author but this book did look interesting. It was not a difficult book to read but it wasn't so interesting that I couldn't put it down. However, I think for a younger reader its probably a very good book. I like the idea of a time traveling cat and its human. I also enjoyed that the story took us from 2700 B.C. on up to 1775 and covered several continents. That was perhaps the best More...

A connected series of short stories with little to no setup. Jason's cat Gareth doesn't have nine lives, but he can talk and time travel, and brings Jason along to provide cat-themed help in various historical periods. It's not bad, but there are some stereotypes (the Japanese court especially) and some quirks of the author I do not like (I don't think Saint Patrick would have sounded like he sounds in the Ireland chapter.)

It's passable, but unless your kid is cat-crazy, he might lose interest i More...

Jason always thought his cat Gareth could talk, so when Gareth speaks to him he is not surprised. Gareth does not have nine lives but has the ability to visit nine different times and places and take Jason with him. They visit Ancient Egypt, Roman Britain, pre-Christian Ireland, Imperial Japan, Renaissance Italy, 16th century Peru, late 16th century Isle of Man, 17th century Germany, and America at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. In each place they help someone, and meet historical figur More...