CAT NAP by Brian Lies

~ Review by Amanda Smith

In Cat Nap (Greenwillow Books, 2025) written and illustrated by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Brain Lies, a sleepy kitten is disturbed from his comfy nap by a mouse. The mouse leaps into a poster of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, of course, kitten follows. Kitten pursues Mouse through several works of art, each time transforming into the style of the art piece. However, soon Kitten realizes that he is lost and must rely on the art itself to find his way home.
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Cat Nap is ALL about remarkable art. In order to create the final illustrations, Lies meticulously handmade each one in the original media of the various art pieces that Kitten visits. Lies’ creations range from relief carvings, to clay kittens, illuminated prayer books, wood carvings, stained glass, and much more! And while the characters might be crafted out of solid and stiff materials, movement, expression, and energy abound. It is simply astounding, in an age where images can be so easily produced and manipulated by technology, that the artist chooses to create these pieces by hand.

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But then, that may be exactly the point: In a book that celebrates creativity, craft, playfulness, and art, the creator leaned deeply into his boundless creativity, exceptional craft, playful spirit, and abounding artistic ability. Cat Nap is a celebration of artistry, both from the past and present!

On Writing:
Cat Nap is told in compact language with a playful tone. (Lies clearly has a deep understanding of the cat psyche.) The repeated question “Does Kitten follow?” leads to fantastic page turns and a very satisfying ending. In your own work, can you use repetition to build tension and signal page turns?

​Though the language is tight, Lies manages to give the characters in each artwork distinct voices, even if they only have one line of dialogue. In your own work, study the dialogue of the secondary characters. Do they sound like different individuals?

Brain Lies also makes interesting choices regarding the artwork he includes. These works can all be found in the MET, but Lies daringly selected works that are mostly unfamiliar to young readers, widening art lovers’ repertoire. We can apply this to our own writing in thinking beyond the familiar and thereby gently expanding our readers’ vocabulary and general knowledge.

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Thank you, Brian for giving us permission to post your artwork.
To learn more about Brian, visit him at www.brianlies.com/