Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble - Hardcover

Nick Bruel is the author and illustrator of the phenomenally successful Bad Kitty picture books and chapter books, as well as other popular books for young readers. He has received the 2012 CBC Children's Choice Book Award, as well as several major state awards for his work. Nick lives near Westchester, NY with his wife, daughter and not-so-bad kitty, Esmeralda. When he is not visiting schools from coast to coast, he collects PEZ dispensers and grows tomatoes in his backyard.

Gr 2–4—In this seventh installment in the series, readers are introduced to the process of writing and illustrating a book in a fun and humorous way. Bruel employs his signature style of addressing readers directly; he begins the book with a step-by-step demonstration of how to draw Bad Kitty and moves on to describe the necessary ingredients of a successful story. Through the process of describing story elements such as protagonist, antagonist, and conflict, the author creates some scenarios that Kitty finds objectionable (most notably, an all-turnip diet), but eventually she convinces him to rewrite the story in her favor. Many of the usual secondary characters (Uncle Murray, Puppy, Strange Kitty, etc.) make an appearance in this volume, and there are some unexpected additions, including a zombie, a giant octopus, and a talking turnip named Terry. Bruel makes no attempt to hide the fact that the intent of this book is to teach readers how to write stories, but his informal writing style and hilarious illustrations make the lesson seem like a fun opportunity rather than a chore. Fans of the naughty feline will not be disappointed by this new volume, and when they finish reading it, they will have the tools, along with the encouragement of Bruel himself, to create their own Bad Kitty-inspired adventures.—Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY