Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble (paperback black-and-white edition)

by Nick Bruel

Overview

In this seventh installment of the New York Times–bestselling series, Kitty encounters what may be her most formidable foe yet: her creator! Kitty soon learns that feline manipulation works both ways—especially when you're at the wrong end of your author's pencil. Along the way, Nick shows kids how a book is created, despite the frequent interruptions from you-know-who.

A Neal Porter Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250056795
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	01/06/2015
Series:	Bad Kitty Series
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	104,030
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Nick Bruel is the author and illustrator of New York Times bestseller Boing and the phenomenally successful Bad Kitty picture books and chapter books, among others. He is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist who received the 2012 CBC Children's Choice Book Award, as well as several major state awards for his work. During his down time, he collects PEZ dispensers and grows tomatoes in the backyard. He lives in Tarrytown, NY with his wife Carina and their lovely cat Esmerelda.

Editorial Reviews

Surprisingly (and sneakily) instructional, totally hilarious . . . and worth every penny.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Bruel's sky's-the-limit attitude will encourage boys and girls to use their imaginations and get writing.” —Booklist

“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.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

03/01/2014
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

School Library Journal

★ 2013-10-20
Bad Kitty takes on her greatest foe: Sillier than Puppy, mightier than Uncle Murray, scarier than a bath…it's her creator! For her seventh chapter-book outing (and her 10th appearance overall), Bad Kitty ups the meta-hybrid ante by telling a story that includes her author/illustrator while it also teaches its audience some fundamentals about the writer's craft. At the outset, Bruel introduces himself and invites readers to smell the paper (or download a paper-smelling app if they are reading electronically) and then draws a mirror so that readers can see how handsome he is. He teaches them to draw Bad Kitty, leaving white space so that they can follow along (unless they are reading a library book, but it's OK to draw on the screen). What follows is the nuttiest writing guide ever. Bruel uses Bad Kitty (who's obviously reluctant to play along) to explain the concepts of character, plot, theme and conflict. Uncle Murray helps out with a few definitions. Poor Puppy and giant octopuses (or is that octopi…?) pop in as antagonists. When Strange Kitty (Bad Kitty's fellow feline) points out similarities between this and the Looney Tunes cartoons Rabbit Rampage and Duck Amuck, Bruel admits they inspired him and hopes Bad Kitty will inspire the audience to write their own stories. Surprisingly (and sneakily) instructional, totally hilarious…and worth every penny. (glossary, recipe) (Graphic/nonfiction hybrid. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews