Time Cat

The Remarkable Journeys of Jason and Gareth

By: Lloyd Alexander

Narrated by: Ron Keith

Cats don’t really have nine lives, but they can visit nine different lives, anywhere, anytime. This is the secret Jason’s cat, Gareth, tells him. When Jason hears this, he begs to go along. Soon cat and boy find themselves in ancient Egypt on the first of nine fantastic adventures. With the wink of an eye, Jason and Gareth are transported to alluring settings in world history. On their travels they meet interesting and famous people, such as St. Patrick, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Whether the destination is Renaissance Italy or revolutionary America, their appearance never fails to cause a stir. And wherever they go, Gareth leaves his inimitable pawprint on history.

Filled with fascinating historical information and enchanting cat lore, Time Cat showcases the author’s wonderful talent for capturing the imagination as he immerses you in other cultures. Ron Keith’s delightful narration conveys all the humor and excitement as you travel through time with Gareth and Jason.

©1991 Lloyd Alexander (P)1999 Recorded Books

Historical fantasy adventure for children

In summary:
A fun book for anyone, but I especially recommend for older children/younger teens. And people who like cats. The narration’s fine. I don’t remember anything problematic for people who may be worried about content.

I read this, and many of Lloyd Alexander’s other books when I was younger, around mid to late teens, so I’ve always been a bit older than the likely recommended reading age, but I enjoyed it both then and now that I’m older.

It is a fun little fantasy/adventure story with slight coming of age bits added in, but I think even someone who doesn’t have nostalgia clouding their views would enjoy this. I hadn’t actually remembered much of it other than the basic premise and that I enjoyed it, so as I listened to the book, it was almost like reading it for the first time.

I liked the bits of actual historical people and events included, though as I haven’t studied history much, I probably missed some references. I liked that the characters mention that though they seem to be influencing circumstances, chances are things would have ended that way even without them. I like that there doesn’t seem to be any worry about messing up the timeline even though it’s a time travel book. Concerns like that can be interesting in more extensive books, but for a children’s book, I think this is better. It’s actually kind of touristy and more about learning how other people lived. I call it a fantasy adventure, but other than the time travel and convenient related magic that lets them fit in, it’s a much more realistic in that there is no ultimate goal or anything like that, basically just a boy and his cat going on a world tour. Though it doesn’t constantly focus on it, I really like the relationship between the cat and boy as well. Mostly friends with just a bit of mentorship, as Gareth is an adult cat, with all the confidence that implies. Events were concluded nicely with only slight confusion as to whether the adventure was a dream.

They only spend short, to us, amounts of time in each time periods, but it’s possible that parents/teachers could use these chapters as a starting point to research or encourage interest in those times and places. Personally I liked that each adventure had its focus more or less on how people reacted/related to cats.

As this wasn’t a favorite book I reread often, I didn’t have any high expectations for the narration. Just hopes that they wouldn’t read the children and female voices in an odd whiny pitch, which he didn’t. For whatever reason, his voice did take a little getting used to, but I grew to quite like it, and would listen to another book narrated by him if I came across one.

Gareth was one of the voices that took a bit to adjust to, but I eventually decided he sounded somewhat lazy and proud, maybe a bit condescending, so fitting for a cat. I have trouble remembering names, so I appreciated the different accents and tones of voice, regardless of whether they were correct, they helped me keep track of who was talking and what country they were visiting. And I’m mentioning it again, because it’s a huge negative for me, but I really appreciate that he doesn’t use some weird high pitched voice for the children. I nearly stopped listening to audiobooks with children because of some books like that.

For people who may have concerns (This is only my opinion on as much as I remember… I was distracted occasionally and may have missed something):
I do not remember any instances of cursing. Or name calling. At least on the part of the main characters.
The main character begins the book with being sent to his room as a punishment, but there wasn’t any disrespectful talk against his parents. Or any unreasonable defiance of other authority figures.
I don’t think there was disrespectful characterization of any cultures, but as he is traveling through different places and times, if that is something you’re concerned by, maybe research further before reading/listening. Another reviewer found some of the narrator’s accents to be somewhat offensive, but as someone who doesn’t know much about accents, I was fine with it. I might be misremembering, but think they refer to the Incas as Indians, and possibly other similar instances, but that was period accurate.
There isn’t any major instances of death and violence, but there is talk and threats of it at multiple points in times. It isn’t graphic, but as it is mostly against a little boy and a cat, some people may not be comfortable with having especially sensitive children read/listen. Actually he is running away frightened from battle scenes, several times, but I don’t think the violence is described in detail… it is implied that a man he was traveling with dies, but not outright stated. One of the places they visit is during the European witch trials, and there is mentioned several times the deaths of both cats and people that happened.

The book was better

I have rarely experienced a narrator I disliked as much as this one. The man chewed his words and had about as much sense of excitement and adventure as a can of Lima beans. Also, he didn't really have much sense of character voices, and chose the driest performance options when a line could be read in more than one way.

I found myself coming to dread listening to this thing, and thought I actually disliked the story, but it confused me, because I remembered loving both this book and others written by Alexander when I was a child. I picked up a copy of the physical book that my husband had lying around, and Lo! Reading it silently, it sounded more fun and full of wonder in just a few short paragraphs than I had experienced in three chapters listening to him.

Seriously, if you can get to experience this story in ANY other medium, go there. This narrator is better suited for reading self help books for insomniacs than children's books.

AWFUL NARRATION!!! Amazing story

I LOVE this story with all my heart. I first read it when I was younger and have read it at least 20 times. I was stoked to find this book on audible but that feeling was quickly killed when I heard the narration. The narrator has a silly, obnoxious voice that reminds me of Stewie Griffin from family guy, whom I hate. Hearing a voice like Stewie for Gareth, the silky cat broke my heart. I had always imagined the characters to have better voices than this narrator, and he didn’t do them any justice. The accents he did for the Chinese man and the Japanese people were horribly racist and insensitive as well. Honestly, I only listened to it because I love the story so much. Don’t bother listening if you value your hearing.