What if you were excited for summer camp and instead went to the wrong camp? And it was full of cats?

Drew Brockington has visited my blog once before for his picture book PUPPY BUS (which was the prequel to today’s book). He is also the creator of the CatStronauts series of graphic novels. His first picture book, Hangry, was published in 2019. He lives with his family in Minneapolis. You can learn more about him at his website or follow him on Twitter or Instagram.

KITTY CAMP is a picture book about a young girl who is incredibly excited for arts and crafts at summer camp. Unfortunately she got on the wrong bus and finds herself at kitty camp, surrounded by … you guessed it. Cats. BUT instead of being disappointed, she’s delighted! Until she discovers that crafts at kitty camp aren’t exactly what she expected. There are some similarities to PUPPY BUS, but there are also a lot of differences in the best possible ways. This story is hilarious with many unexpected surprises at each page turn.

Welcome back Drew!

Me: I love that you followed up PUPPY BUS with KITTY CAMP. From dogs to cats! That’s a perfect leap. There’s still a school bus, but camp is radically different from school. What made you decide to set this book at camp instead of school for this “sequel”?

Drew: I wanted to make sure this book felt like it could stand on its own. When I’ve done story time with Puppy Bus, I ask the kids, “Who would like to get on a bus full of puppies and who would like to get on a bus full of kitties?!” Kids have VERY strong opinions about what bus they would want to be on, and I wanted to honor those opinions.  If you’ve read puppy bus, this is a new take on that concept. If you only want to read Kitty Camp, then it is its own thing. 

Me: It’s true! They both work on their own. I love all of the similarities and differences between each story, yet there definitely feels like there’s a frame work you’ve created for these stories now. Was it hard to stick with that? What made you decide to create a similar setup for this story?

Drew: I really haven’t written a picture book sequel before, so I did some research. I read Dragons Love Tacos 2, That’s (Not) mine, the Pigeon Books, and many more. With picture books sequels, there’s a familiarity to them. They often use the same pacing and reveal structure that the original has.  In that way it was more challenging. I knew I had to build to the reveal of Kitties in a couple pages, but I had to make sure it still felt fresh in every little bit of the story. It’s like reverse engineering a joke. You know the punchline, but you have to make sure the joke is still interesting so you can tell that punchline.

Me: I love that the nameless girl in this story is excited about camp, even when she discovers she’s at the wrong camp. She very clearly loves cats (given her clothes and bedroom decor too). Was she inspired by anyone you know? What made you decide to have her character be so cat crazy?

Drew: My kiddos have asked for a kitty as a pet on more than one occasion. But I’m very allergic to them. So instead, there are many stuffed Cats and cat items in our home. Their love of their imaginary pets helped me translate that into the girl’s obsession for kitties.

Me: Ha! That’s awesome. I interviewed you about PUPPY BUS back in 2022. I asked if you liked cats or dogs better and you went with sloths. I find this particularly amusing, given the way you ended this book (NO spoilers given). Might you have another idea percolating with sloths? Can we hope to see more books in what might now be called a “series”?

Drew: Ha ha ha!  I forgot about that! That makes me quite happy. Yes, Sloths are still my favorite. Yes, I do have a concept for a story about my favorite slow animals and a birthday party. Nothing has been written down yet, but the narrative is taking shape! I’m excited to see what my editor thinks about it.

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing and/or illustrating this story? 

Drew: I’ve been working on the CatStronauts Graphic novel series now for about 10 years. So for 10 years I’ve been drawing Anthropomorphic Cats.  And suddenly, I had to draw “real” cats.  I had to re-learn how to draw them!  I kept trying to give them hands instead of paws!  Eventually I just went to the library and started looking at Kitty books in the kids non-fiction section.

Me: Wow! That’s really interesting! I never thought of that as a problem. You have had several books published now. What kind of creative process do you have to keep producing kidlit? Do you sketch daily? Write often? Have a work routine and take breaks? What have you found works for you? 

Drew: I try to keep a few ideas for stories going at the same time.  That way I can rotate which one I want to devote a little more time to and allow the other ideas proper time to rest.  This has been the hardest thing to learn in my writing process. I’ll noodle an idea until I have a draft, and then I’ll leave that draft alone for a few weeks (or even months!). This lets me have fresh eyes on the story every time I look at it. After that time away from the story, I’m not trying to protect any of the ideas anymore. I’ll happily cut or re-write sections. Also, it gives me time to think about if this concept is still a good story.

While a story is cooling off, I’ll doodle the characters or start noodling another story idea. My goal is to always have something to tinker on. And then, when it’s time, pull out a project and start developing it into a book.

Me: Do you have any future books we can look forward to reading? Any projects you can tell us a little bit about?

Drew: Wow! Yes! There’s a lot going on to get excited about!  The next installment in my Middle Grade Graphic Novel series, CatStronauts, comes out on August 5. CatStronauts: Cosmic Clutter is the 7^th book in that series. AND I’m starting to color CatStronauts book 8, expected for 2026.  AND This summer I start working on a new picture book about a kid magician that is trying to make a bird appear but can only make donuts. This one is VERY exciting for me, because I’m painting the whole book in gouache! Usually I work digital for colors, but this time, It’s all on paper!

Wow! Gouache! That sounds so fun. Thank you for stopping by my blog again Drew.

Dear readers, this book was published in April. If you haven’t had a chance to track it down yet, I highly recommend it. It’s a fun book to read for summer for your cat crazed kids, as well as anyone who loves a good book full of laughs. You won’t want to miss it!