Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet

I wholeheartedly second the review by the Mother of Three from Oregon. This is a terrific sequel to the very enjoyable first book on the Mushroom Planet and the adventures of the two boys David and Chuck. In addition to the science, wonder, adventure, and drama, there's an interesting point to be made about pride. The anti-hero in this book is a pretentious, glory-seeking academic. I was able to tell my son that there are lots of this type in schools, academia, government, and the media, and that this type seeks not truth and beauty, but fame and self-glorification. We're looking forward to the next three in the series. Highly recommended.

I was given this book for my birthday by a girl I had a crush on in the fourth or fifth grade. I hadn't read the first one, but I enjoyed this one just the same. It's interesting to think about it now and knowing that this was written in the 50s when space flight and sci-fi were only just beginning. The theme of marooned aliens and space-ship building teenagers and stowaway professor types has been copied many times since, and still this ranks with the best "family" sci-fis while also predating them. The nastalgic writing style is condusive to building rapport with child-like thought processes, and it helps that many people read this in their youth and are called back to it in adulthood. Read it to your child today and hopefully when they are adults, they'll be able to reach that state again while reading it with their children! I'll be ordering the first one soon to read to my kid! J. Lyon Layden The Other Side of Yore

My son and I don't get the chance to read together as often as we did when he was younger. He is now 9 and likes to read on his own, and I have younger ones to tend to also. But when we do read together, it is really special and this one was a favorite. It is the second in the series (first is Journey to the Mushroom Planet, I think). We loved them both. Very creative and some suspense. Long descriptions and some more complex words make it ideal for a parent to read aloud, unless the child is older and a truly avid reader. We will try the third book, though we've heard the first two are the best. Definitely read the first two.

The book Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet is a great book. Some characters are Chuck and David the original space travelers from the first mushroom planet book. Chuck and David live fairly close to each other. They live pretty close to Cap'n Tom's beach. About the problem in the story, when David, Chuck, and Mr. Theo Bass blast off from Earth they hear something like a soft voice. Lucky for them (not really) a curious professor Horatio Q. Peabody stows away in their space ship but they can't really turn around so they take him along. A while after they've been on the misty green planet of Basidium (the mushroom planet), Horatio enters a sacred place on Basidium without permission. Thanks to that the ancient ones nearly take out Chuck, David, Mr. Theo and a few other people. In the end after they've left Basidium and have gotten back home, Horatio can't remember pretty much anything due to a drink he took on Basidium. Mainly, Horatio's upset and he steals Chuck and David's space ship, but something weird happens while he is in space. I'm not going to give away what happened but, Horatio crash lands about a month later in the ocean not knowing anything about Basidium. Then Chuck and David go help Horatio out of the ocean and walk him up the beach.

This book follows the wonderful story set down by Cameron in her first book of the series. As a science teacher, I am still captivated by the wonderful work and research that went into the book in light of the volume of space knowledge known at that time. A wonderful flight to worlds unseen where you can relax with well developed characters and charming guests as well. A book that will grab you by your imagination and never let go! Well worth the read, well worth a reasonable price to own the series. A book I look forward to reading again.I would love to see the entire series reprinted in paperback in order to have extra copies of it.