FFB For Kids: The Mushroom Planet Series – Eleanor Cameron
first published-27 Friday Jun 2008
(Randy Johnson)
Eleanor Cameron’s Mushroom Planet series came out back in the fifties.
It was science fiction for small children. I think the series would be
the perfect way to introduce children to written SF as opposed to
movies.
In THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE MUSHROOM PLANET, David and Chuck respond to a newspaper ad that read:
” Wanted: A small spaceship about eight feet long, built by a boy, or by two boys, between the ages of
eight and eleven….”
The ad goes on to promise an adventure and a chance to do a good deed. The two boys build from materials at hand and haul it to the address in the ad. There they meet a strange little man named Tyco Bass, a scientist.
He paints the inside and outside of their spaceship with a “special”
liquid to seal it, installs engines, fuel tanks, and equipment of his
design, and they are off to the Mushroom Planet, in invisible orbit
fifty thousand miles from Earth.
There they meet a race of small green men, of which Mr. Bass is one, on a
world of giant mushrooms. They help them with a great difficulty,
become heroes, and return to Earth. Their spaceship gets dashed to
pieces by tides on the beach and Mr. Bass reportedly blows away on the
wind.
The end of their adventures? Hardly.
In STOWAWAY TO THE MUSHROOM PLANET, they encounter Mr. Bass’ cousin, Mr. Theodosius, who pours over notes left by his relative, and recreates everything. A new spaceship is built, slightly bigger, and plans are made to return to the little planet. Upon arriving, they discover Horatio, a young boarder, who hadn’t believed their tales, but now wants to exploit the planet and it’s people. They also find Tyco Bass alive and well.
Adventures ensue and they all return to Earth. Everything is fine. The planet is safe.
The first two books are readily available on used book sites at
reasonable prices(one and two dollars, plus S&H). But the other
three are a bit more expensive Twenty dollars for the third, forty odd
for the fifth. The fourth is the breaker. I’ve seen prices, ninety on
the low end and two hundred fifty on the high for used copies. (THIS POST IS FROM A LONG TIME AGO)
Local libraries may have them(our county system has three).
It would be nice if some publisher came out with affordable paperbacks of all five. I think small children would enjoy them.
I know this small “child” loved revisiting that long ago youth.
6 comments:
I have been meaning to read this series for quite a while and, in fact, am planning to begin it once I finish my read of the Miss Pickerell series sometime next month. Thanks for posting this and thanks to Randy, as always, for his insightful reviews, which I miss more and and more as time passes on.
This looks so interesting, Patti! And I am always thrilled to see a series that will draw young people to reading.
Sounded cool so I checked the Dallas Library system. They have them Downtown. So, these two are now on the way to me. Thank you.
Hoping Jerry House is okay. Not sure exactly what town he’s in.
Jerry is fine. I'm in Gulf Breeze, just across the bay from Pensacola. Very early models of the storm track had Helene centered directly on my driveway, but because I'm on the Florida Panhandle where 60% of the population is MAGA, Helene characteristically took a hard turn to the RIGHT.
I read Eleanor Cameron's MUSHROOM PLANET series as a kid. Fond memories! Glad to hear Jerry is okay!
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