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Cover of Star Cat: A Turnip in Time!
Graphic · ages 7–10

Star Cat: A Turnip in Time!

Written by James Turner · Illustrated by Yasmin Sheikh

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£9.99
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Book 2 in Star CatView the full series

A second Star Cat collection with time-travel nonsense, flat dimensions, space slugs and more chaotic sci-fi comedy. Best for readers who already enjoy highly visual, high-energy comic absurdity.

  • Best for7–10
  • FormatGraphic
  • Length208 pp
  • Read aloud~1 hr40 min
Where to buyPaperback
WaterstonesIn stock
£9.99
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The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Conversational
  • Comedic

Tone

  • Funny
  • Silly
  • Absurdist
  • Adventurous
  • Exciting

Themes

On the pageturnip in time, time travel, ss star cat, flativerse, space slugs, space prettiest flower competition, visual gags

Experience meters

Energy5/ 5
Humour5/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril2/ 5
Wonder4/ 5
Cosiness2/ 5
Emotional intensity1/ 5
Conceptual intensity2/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

The SS Star Cat continues its ridiculous journey through space, time and logic. Captain Spaceington and the crew face new forms of cosmic silliness, including space slugs, a two-dimensional flativerse and exactly the kind of problems that can only be solved by cartoon science-fiction nonsense.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 7–10
  • Read aloud · 7–10
  • Independent · 7–10

Prose load

Light

Visual support

Very high

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Workable

Works well for

  • Reluctant readers
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime

Sensitive-child

4 / 5 · Good fit

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Funny graphic novel
  • Space comedy
  • Time travel
  • Reluctant readers
  • Absurd humour

Avoid if

  • Wants realistic stories
  • Wants calm bedtime
  • Dislikes absurd humour

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Reluctant reader
  • Struggling with reading
  • Interested in science

In the classroom

How it works in school.

A wacky sci-fi comic series — a reluctant-reader pleaser and classroom-library staple.

Classroom role

  • Classroom library

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific delight is the flativerse — Captain Spaceington's crew time-travelling and crashing into a two-dimensional universe, space slugs and turnips and exactly the kind of trouble only cartoon nonsense can solve. The second Star Cat with the absurdity dialled up.

  • Adventure and freedom
  • Animal companions
  • Secret world
  • Time travel
  • Trickery and cleverness

Why parents love it

The second Star Cat — time-travel and dimensional comedy, gag-per-page Phoenix energy intact. Reliable for highly-visual high-energy comic absurdity readers.

  • Shared humour
  • Quick to read

In the series

Star Cat.

3 books · open the series →

About the creators

About the creators.

JT

James Turner

Writer · United Kingdom

James Turner is a British comics writer-artist who came up through The Phoenix Comic, where he created the Star Cat space-comedy series (Star Cat, …A Turnip in Time!, …Unicorns in Space!) and the Toby and the Pixies chapter books. Turner's voice is dry, slightly absurd, science-fictional and densely-jokey, in the British comics tradition that includes Jamie Smart and Neill Cameron. Star Cat in particular is a reliable reluctant-reader gateway for ages 6–10, with broad-stroke space-opera plotting, very funny dialogue and the gleeful chaos of Phoenix-Comic comics. A core contemporary UK middle-grade comics author for funny-bone children.

More from James Turner →
YS

Yasmin Sheikh

Illustrator · Netherlands

Yasmin Sheikh is a Dutch illustrator best known to UK children's-book readers as the visual partner on James Turner's Star Cat space-comedy graphic-novel series (Star Cat, Star Cat: A Turnip in Time!, Star Cat: Unicorns in Space!). Sheikh's style is clean-lined, bright and character-driven, well-matched to Turner's dry science-fictional comedy in the Phoenix-Comic British comics tradition. A reliable contemporary middle-grade graphic-novel illustrator for ages 6–10.

More from Yasmin Sheikh →

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

If you liked this, try…

Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Last reviewed · April 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend
£9.99
Waterstones · 2 shops
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