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Explore the Adventures of Bad Kitty With Author and Illustrator Nick Bruel and Your Library
About Blog Post
Mar 10, 2021
by Pressroom
Digitally meet Nick Bruel, the author and illustrator of the Bad Kitty series, with the Somerset County Library System of New Jersey (SCLSNJ) on April 28 at 3 p.m., through a virtual program and discover an interactive drawing demonstration of Bad Kitty and a Q&A session.
“Children love funny books and that is why I often recommend Nick Bruel’s Bad Kitty series to our customers,” said Jenna Galley, youth services librarian. “The comic-style illustrations on every page are hilarious for readers of all ages.”
Bruel, who discovered his passion for drawing and writing simultaneously, grew up admiring classic comic strips, including Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts, and the early Popeye comics created by Elzie Crisler Segar.
“I became a real devotee to the whole history of comic strips,” Bruel said. “When I was young I wanted to be a cartoonist. And, this is what I dedicated all of my free time to, even when I was in grade school, and I would continue this until college.”
Although Bruel’s initial goal was to create a syndicated comic strip after he graduated college, he began working at bookstores, where he drew the correlation between cartooning and children’s books.
“One bookstore that I worked in for over seven years was Books of Wonder in Lower Manhattan,” he said. “And that's where I started to really think seriously about the similarities between cartooning and children's books, which is another form of storytelling with words and pictures.”
In 2004, Bruel’s first book for children, “Boing,” was published.
“‘Boing,’ came out in the fall of 2004, but then the following February to everyone's shock, including mine, it suddenly made its way onto The New York Times Best Seller list, where it stayed for five weeks,” said Bruel. “Nobody saw that coming, and nobody really has any explanation as to how that happened four or five months after the book came out, but I am thrilled that it did.”
One year later in 2005, Bruel’s first book in the Bad Kitty series, simply titled “Bad Kitty,” was published. In Kitty’s first adventure, she misbehaves because she does not want to eat her vegetables after she learns that there is no more cat food in her house.
Bruel physically modeled Kitty after a cat he had as a child, but based her characteristics “on every cat I've ever known.”
“What makes Kitty work as a new character is that we've seen characters like Kitty before,” he said. “She is unapologetically herself, but she does have the capacity for compassion.”
The Bad Kitty series was first published in 2005 as a picture book, but the series has evolved into a variety of formats including chapter and activity books.
Bad Kitty’s comic adventures range from her going to obedience school in “Bad Kitty: School Daze” and running for president of the Neighborhood Cat Coalition in “Bad Kitty for President.”
He continued, “I'm just very fortunate that I created the kind of character that kids can seem to relate to. She is the kind of character that remains fresh book after book.”
In response to the pandemic in April 2020, Bruel created a free downloadable book, “Bad Kitty: Wash Your Paws,” where Bad Kitty and her audience learn about viruses and bacteria and how to properly wash their hands (and paws).
“I created the book in order to explain why and how we can control germs that we are exposed to,” said Bruel. “The book not only got into the importance of washing hands, but also the importance of understanding germs and viruses. I think it is important to understand things like this, especially just outside of the pandemic.”
Bad Kitty’s most recent adventure, “Bad Kitty Goes on Vacation,” was published in January 2021. The new release chronicles the misadventures of Kitty and Uncle Murray as they travel together.
As for the future of Bad Kitty, Bruel states that he doesn't think that he will “ever truly step completely away” from the character. He is currently working on completing the next book in the series, “Bad Kitty Gets a Phone.”
“[The book] is very much about how young minds wrestle with technology today, including my daughter,” he said. “I sometimes find themes or the topics that I want to explore, and then let the book shape itself.”
Connect with Bruel and Bad Kitty with your Library: sclsnj.libnet.info/event/4652009.