A brand-new middle-grade graphic novel series from New York Times bestselling author Mac Barnett and illustrator Shawn Harris, based on the live cartoons for the shelter-in-place Instagram show, Mac’s Book Club Show. It follows an unlikely trio—a bionic cat, toenail-clipping robot, and moon queen—as they race to save the moon from the rats who want to eat it… and maybe find some pizza along the way.

THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE ATE PIZZA
by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Shawn Harris
Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, Summer 2022

At the beginning of the pandemic, lifelong best friends Mac and Shawn experimented with a new animation format: they made a « live » cartoon, done entirely over Zoom. It was a hit and they serialized it weekly, following the (mis)adventures of a cat who is sent to space to stop rats from eating the moon. He teams up with a stowaway robot and the moon queen and the result is something truly hilarious and special. People (from all 7 continents!) connected deeply with it and Mac & Shawn made their own merchandise, with proceeds going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Publication of the first book is set for summer 2022, with volume 2 to follow in Summer 2023.

Mac Barnett is the New York Times bestselling author of many picture books, including Extra Yarn and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, both illustrated by Jon Klassen and both Caldecott Honor Award winners. He is also the co-author of the bestselling Terrible Two series with Jory John. Mac lives in Berkeley, California.

Shawn Harris is an artist and musician who lives and works in Half Moon Bay, California. His first picture book, Her Right Foot, by Dave Eggers, was the recipient of seven starred reviews and was an Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book. He is also the illustrator of Dave Eggers’s What Can a Citizen Do? and Colin Meloy’s Everyone’s Awake.