Cat Nap, a 2025 Brian Lies picture book, is simply lovely. Beautiful.
The sleepy cat on the front cover is napping in the Metropolitan Museum of Art when it hears something. A mouse! The cat follows it, first through the room, and then through a series of art works from different periods. The chase starts in ancient Egypt, where Kitten’s image changes to match the epoch’s style. Kitten follows mouse past and through the art of different times and continents, changing appearance to match each one and interacting with people, creatures, and landscapes from each.
This chase is full of heart and color: it works for pleasure, but also for education. Lies includes two pages near the end of the book showing and explaining how he created Kitten and other elements using wood, glass, plaster, and paint. Two more pages follow, explaining the artworks filling the book. And through it leaps Kitten, in the twists and leaps that define cats.
