One day during an unexpected conversation with his cat, Gareth, Jason learns that Gareth can time travel. Jason wants very much to go along, so instantly, they are off. Their journey takes them through nine different time periods (one for each of a cat’s lives). Each section follows a pattern. First, Gareth and Jason meet some people. Some are fictional and others are historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci and St. Patrick. Then the people learn something about cats and life. After that there’s some sort of imminent danger, which is usually resolved and then they take off for another time.
The each section break marks a nice little story which is good especially for read alouds or for children that have trouble sustaining attention for long.
The one drawback I see this that the vocabulary is hard compared with interest level. Examples of more difficult words include:Centurion, legionary, brusque, catamountain, wisha, major domo, celestial, obeisance. Students without a lot of historical and cultural knowledge may run into problems as they encounter names, historical people and places that are unfamiliar and may interfere with comprehension.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – It seems that Gareth fathered a litter of kittens. Jason receives a kiss on the cheek. A girl will not believe that a boy likes her because her eyes are two different colors.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Jason punched his brother. Some men threaten to throw Jason to the crocodiles. They go into battle with Caesar’s army. Two cats fight. Jason has a spear pressed to his throat. Men threaten to chop Jason up or burn him in a basket. Gareth kills a snake. A magician is threatened. A king wants to wrap them in leaves and throw them in a fire. Jason is threatened with a sword. Witch hunters in Germany have drowned or burned over 100 cats. They burn witches too for that matter. A man swings a sickle-shaped blade at Jason. Men and guards fight. The American Revolution is about to start.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
Ohhh. I do so remember liking LLoyd Alexander when I was in library school.I read The Chronicles of Prydain with delight, but do remember thinking at the time that the vocabulary was not at all child-like! I daresay that most adults would have some degree of difficulty with some of those words. Did you know he was born in Philadelphia?