Book Event + Art Activity: CAT NAP

February 18, 2026 1:00 pm Griswold House

Join us for this special book event for CAT NAP by Brian Lies in partnership with our neighbors and collaborators, Charter Books!

 

This is a FREE event including a book reading by the author, book inspired art-making activity, and original art by Brian Lies on display to see up close!

CAT NAP introduces a sleepy kitten whose afternoon nap transforms into an epic journey through art, time, and history. A wonderful picture book that is exciting for children and adults alike!

*Charter Books will sell copies of CAT NAP at the event.

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In the warm, late afternoon sunlight, a girl sits on the couch reading a book. Her kitten dozes nearby. But when Kitten notices a mouse and dives after it through a framed poster on the wall, an epic chase through time, art, and history ensues. Is it a dream? That’s up to the reader to decide, but for the kitten, every leap and bound is full of suspense and makes for a masterpiece.

Caldecott Honor–winning and New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Brian Lies creates a truly unique picture book journey that invites young readers through the galleries of an art museum as well as through time, space, and history. As the cat and mouse leap from one page to the next, they are portrayed in the style of masterful artworks from history—an ancient Egyptian relief, an illuminated manuscript, a stained-glass window, a ceramic dog—each painstakingly and lovingly re-created in its original media by Brian Lies. When the sly mouse gets away, Kitten finds himself lost and alone. Will art help him find his way home?

This visual showstopper by an award-winning and bestselling picture book creator offers readers a page-turning cat and mouse chase, an introduction to famous works of art throughout history, an epic adventure story, and a homecoming. Backmatter includes information about how each of the illustrations in the book was created, notes on the original artworks featured in the book, and an afterword inviting young readers to make, create, and build things.

About the Author:

Brian Lies is the New York Times bestselling creator of Bats at the BeachBats at the Library, Bats at the BallgameBats in the Band, and the Caldecott Honor book The Rough Patch. He has written and/or illustrated dozens of other acclaimed books for children. He lives with his family in a small seaside town in Massachusetts, where he tends a big and thriving garden.