The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

It's just not possible to recapture a read from 1969. I was not old enough to know or care about some of the science parts being really, really improbable...nay, impossible...as we had just been to the Moon and had recently landed a probe on Mars that put paid to even the dream of a Universe like the one Author Cameron created.

I loved revisiting Dave Topman and Chuck Masterson's flight to the impossible, tiny planet Basidium, all of 50,000 miles away. Their home-made rocket that traveled 25,000 miles an hour. Their bags od groceries to eat on the way there and back...two hours each way...two hours on Basidium, where they somehow spoke the language of the Mushroom People and solved a mystery that confounded the adult Mushroom show more People...the chicken that saved the day....

Nope, too old to get back there, but it was some good fun peeking back at the boyhood adventure that didn't have to make sense because what the hell actually does when you're eight or nine? It's starting to, but not quite yet does, blessedly.

I would give this to a six-year-old and read it with her. Maybe a slightly slow seven-year-old. No older than that, in today's world, and I'm not all the way sure it's even a good idea because gender roles and sex stereotyping are at the core of the story. So maybe, if like me you read it in your tinyhood, you'll smile and enjoy and keep out of reach of children. show less

I read these books as a child and still find them among the best, most imaginative, children's books ever written. I'd highly recommend them to anyone with kids who love the idea of making their own space ship and exploring other planets. Ms. Cameron's other books that I and my kids have read are equally imaginative and good, all involving just enough imagination that they seem almost plausible . . . .

This is a childhood favorite that I remember checking out multiple times from my elementary school library. Thirty-plus years later, and it still holds up very well for me!

David, an only child, is passing a routine evening at home when his father finds a notice -- printed in green ink! -- in the newspaper, advertising for a boy or a couple of boys to build a spaceship for a Very Important Mission. David enlists his best friend, Chuck, and the two are off on an incredible adventure courtesy of the odd but wonderful Mr. Bass.

My only quibble is the obvious sexism, but I try to remember the time in which it was written. And I don't remember feeling like the book meant that I couldn't dream of such things just because I was a girl. In any show more case, I think this book is still a natural for kids. It's a bit dated, but still wonderful! show less

A really nice children's space adventure. The actual space part might seem a little short but overall delightful story with enough mystery to keep it compelling. Reminded me a little of Mary Poppins.
With so many magic based children's stories about its nice to see one with a more sci-fi bent. A great tale for any budding astronomers or astronauts and possibly any biologists as well, as there is a lot about mushrooms too :) .

A lovely little story about two boys recruited to build a ship and save the Mushroom Planet. Written by a woman in 1954: why, oh why didn't she make at least one of the adventurers a girl?

It all starts with a green ad in the newspaper, "Wanted: A small spaceship about eight feet long, built by a boy, or by two boys between the ages if eight and eleven..." (p 4). David Topman is just that boy. After reading the advertisement he sets out to build a spaceship with his friend, Chuck Masterson. He and Chuck are about to set off on a wild adventure, one that takes them (and a mascot chicken named Mrs. Pennyfeather) to outer space and the satellite called Basidium-X (the x is for the unknown).
This is a great story that entwines science with fantasy and wild imagination. I am particularly partial to why Mrs. Pennyfeather needed to come along as a mascot.

I read this book perhaps 40 years ago at the age of about 10, and was enchanted. I remembered it recently and decided to obtain a copy and reread it for the sake of reliving a childhood memory.

Considering that it was written in 1966 for children, it holds up pretty well, and there is a surprising amount of real science and astronomy in it. That said, it shows its age in its sexism (the newspaper advertisement asks for a 'boy' not a 'child') and some hokey 1960's language ('gee willikers!')

I was in two minds about reading this - wanting to relive a childhood memory without spoiling it. I'm glad I did.