After five books about Binky, the flatulent cat who yearns for intergalactic adventures, author-illustrator Ashley Spires launches a new spin-off series, introducing readers to Fluffy Vandermere, the head feline at P.U.R.S.T. (Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel). Having spent years behind a desk, Fluffy is called into action when his mammalian underlings (a.k.a. his owners) are held hostage by aliens.

The aliens are just bugs, of course. As in the Binky books, the cats live under the hilarious delusion that insects are evil alien forces (an utterly believable premise to anyone who has witnessed their resident feline stalk and gleefully dispatch a bug). The premise makes this familiar world joyfully accessible; Spires always lets kids in on the joke. A lot of humour aimed at young children is overladen with winks to the adult reading the book aloud, but Spires is, wholly and truly, a kid’s kid-book creator. The pets speak mostly in meows, while square captions of short prose guide readers through the story using a narrative voice that is consistently kind, friendly, and explanatory – all while maintaining the humour.

The kid appeal is also apparent in the inclusion of some litterbox humour, which, in addition to being uproarious for most seven-year-olds, is difficult to exclude considering how particular cats are about their constitutions. Spires includes some anatomically accurate kitty rear-end shots and Fluffy’s surreptitious sandbox ordure. Disappointingly, however, the climax – in which Fluffy must get soaking wet to save his friends – happens mostly out of frame.

There is an adage about not fixing things that aren’t broken, and it applies here; Fluffy is a welcome addition to Spires’s universally lovable cat collective.