Nick Bruel & His Bad Kitty

Nick Bruel is the author and illustrator of the Bad Kitty books. To say his books are fun to read is an understatement. Bad Kitty's attitude when her owner runs out of cat food is a little extreme, and very zany. My daughter and I bought our first Nick Bruel book at a school book fair and have read it out loud to each other many times. We never tire of laughing at Bad Kitty and her owners. We have read:

Bad Kitty
Bad Kitty Gets a Bath
Poor Puppy

Bad Kitty is a picture book with an ABC theme, so it's wonderful to read to little ones, especially if you use a lot of expression when telling the tale. You can read it through once, then go back through to review the alphabet and the words used. The book is hysterically funny and the pictures clever and colorful, so that you won't mind reading it again and again. Once kids can read, they will read it themselves, chuckling the entire time.

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath is a chapter book, but it has a lot of fun illustrations. I know working with second and third graders during the last couple of years that some kids are intimidated by chapter books. They look at all those words and panic a bit. Chapter books like this one, have plenty of text, but the illustrations help make it "new reader friendly". Since we have three cats at our house, I can tell you that Bad Kitty Gets a Bath has some very good tips on bathing cats. I think it's a must read for families who have cats. It will teach the kids about handling kitties, and help avoid some nasty cat scratches. Ouch.

Poor Puppy is a picture book with an ABC theme as well. Bad Kitty does make an appearance in puppy's book. His book is just as zany, though he doesn't get as crabby as Bad Kitty.

The picture books mentioned are suggested for ages 4-8, which is probably about right, though I think fans will read it beyond 8 years old. I would say you could read it aloud with kids much younger too. The chapter books (there is a new one titled Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty) are suggested for ages 9-12, but my daughter was 8 when she first read it and in 3rd grade.

The Bad Kitty books are a great read for girls or boys, for enthusiastic readers or those who might be struggling a little bit. They are fun and zany which makes kids want to know what's written on the page instead of settling just for the pictures.

~Brenda

Yes, there is a real Uncle Murray, who is featured in the Bad Kitty books: http://www.nickbruel.com/22801.html?entryId=3563877690b9a81370bf5a9dbc1b87f7

Nick reads Poor Puppy to a classroom of fans: http://www.jacketflap.com/video.asp?video=815

Excerpt from Happy Birthday Bad Kitty: http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9781596433427#Excerpt