A Celebration of Books,
Writers & LIterary Excellence

Save the Date


Gaithersburg
Book Festival

May 16, 2026

10am – 6pm

Bohrer Park


Brian Lies

Featured Title: Cat Nap
Cat Nap

SEVEN STARRED REVIEWS * NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK * INDIE NEXT PICK * KIRKUS BEST BOOK * BOOKPAGE BEST BOOK * BOSTON GLOBE BEST BOOK * HORN BOOK FANFARE * SHELF AWARENESS BEST BOOK * SCBWI GOLDEN KITE AWARD FINALIST

“Utterly beautiful, playfully fun, and, above all, breathtaking.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Mr. Lies has set a new standard for ingenuity” —Wall Street Journal

With lush paintings and intricately constructed 3-D artwork, bestselling and Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Brian Lies introduces a sleepy kitten whose afternoon nap transforms into an epic journey through art, time, and history. Perfect for fans of They All Saw a Cat, Museum Trip, and Jumanji. Includes a note from the author about how the illustrations were created.

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 andNew York Times bestsellingauthor-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 Brian Lies

Brian Lies is the author/illustrator of over 30 children’s books, including his New York Times best-selling bat series (“Bats at the Beach,” etc.), his 2019 Caldecott Honor-winning “The Rough Patch,” and 2025’s “Cat Nap,” which garnered seven starred reviews and was on many “Best of 2025” lists.  His work has won numerous awards, and he is acclaimed as a visiting author, working with elementary schools throughout the United States. A graduate of Brown University, Brian lives with his family and two cats in Duxbury, Mass., where he works, tends a large vegetable garden, and enjoys reading, cooking, and woodworking.

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