Author Nick Bruel Brings “Bad Kitty” to St. Louis for a Special Reading

When I told my seven-year-old I was going to be talking with children’s author Nick Bruel, she squealed like Shawn Mendes just walked in the room with a giant bag of Twizzlers.

As a child who struggles with reading issues, who would often cry out of frustration and anxiety when a book was popped in front of her, my little one was taken in by Bruel’s slightly sarcastic, always funny Bad Kitty books. Instead of protesting having to read, she’d giggle away as she worked her way through his work.

It’s Bruel’s ability to connect with young readers that has propelled Bad Kitty to stardom among elementary students and to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. After 12 years and 20 books, this Tarrytown, N.Y.-based author and illustrator continues to offer up books kids can’t wait to get their hands on.

And on Saturday, Jan. 21, Bruel will treat his young fans to a special reading of his newest release, Bad Kitty Takes the Test, at Left Bank Books – and give their parents something important to think about.

Taking on an educational issue with wisdom and wit

For years, Bruel worked as a freelance cartoonist and illustrator, but always had the itch to share his stories with kids. While contemplating topics and titles, the Bad Kitty character was born. His idea morphed into an alphabet-themed picture book which followed the fluffy lead character who repents after refusing to eat her vegetables and aggravating her owners.

“Kitty’s personality and overall character is not based on any particular cat so much as on that of every cat, every ornery and self-important cat, I have ever known,” he explained on the Bad Kitty website.

The picture book soon led to his popular chapter books, which mixed together hilarious stories and cat care facts, while offering readers a little moral nugget at the end. In addition, he’s released an instructional guide, Bad Kitty Makes Comics (And You Can Too!), a board book for the toddler set, and four early reader books.

By 2017, Bruel’s work had won a Children’s Choice Award from the Children’s Book Council two years in a row and continues to be a favorite among both critics and kids. With Bad Kitty Takes the Test, the author is now using his creative platform to take on standardized testing in school – an issue that frustrates kids, teachers and parents alike and which Bruel feels has gotten out of control.

According to Bruel, in his new book, Kitty is required to take a special exam to maintain her cat license after the Society of Cat Aptitude threatens to take it away for her unfeline-like behavior. But like the kids who read the book, Kitty becomes overwhelmed by the work and the demands.

“Kids really care about these tests they take,” said Bruel by phone. “From their perspective, this is a really stressful situation they can’t escape, so I created scenarios the different characters have to deal with leading up to the final exam. Chatty Kitty, for instance, represents a student who is extremely intelligent, extremely creative, but none of those critical facets come through in the testing he has to take. In many ways, the situation becomes Chatty Kitty’s finest moment and in some ways, it’s his book.”

It’s not just Bruel who sees the effects of standardized testing. The American Federation of Teachers union found schools can spend up to 19 full school days on testing and preparation with some dedicating a full month and a half. That’s a lot of days taken away from the daily learning and interaction kids need to strengthen their creative and problem-solving skills. In addition, 64 percent of Americans say there’s “too much emphasis on testing” in today’s schools.

With Bad Kitty Takes the Test, Bruel connects with kids and teachers by using humor and wit to identify the stress they’re feeling. Since crisscrossing the nation on his latest book tour, he’s able to see this connection and the reaction first-hand.

“The children have been reacting positively, getting the jokes and laughing out loud. But just as important, the teachers have been very positive. They’re stuck in this quagmire of testing – kids being evaluated seems so arbitrary and their performance as teachers is being evaluated on how their kids score. It’s deeply unfair and frustrating.”

He added, “I use my characters as a jumping-off point, not only to open the conversation, but to at least tell students and their teachers, that as an author, I recognize their plight and recognize the stress they’re facing.”

Parents, teachers and students can be part of this conversation by joining Bruel for a reading and book signing this Saturday at 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but proof of purchase of Bad Kitty Takes the Test from Left Bank Books will be required to enter the signing line. Left Bank Books is located at 399 North Euclid Ave. in the Central West End. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com/event/nick-bruel.

While Bad Kitty Takes the Test is a way to address an issue that affects many families, the main goal of the book is to give kids a fun escape.

Remarked Bruel, “First and foremost, with any book, I want kids to be entertained. It doesn’t matter if it’s Dr. Seuss or Maurice Sendak, every writer wants his or her book to entertain in some capacity. Sometimes I’ll write a book that has a message or educational component to it, but if I put the message before the entertainment value, I’ve failed as an author. I have to tell a good story before anything else.”