Join the Forbes Library for a May 5 “cat pawty” and storytime with Caldecott honoree Brian Lies! The event is focused on Cat Nap, a beautiful and playful picture book that follows a sleepy kitten whose afternoon nap transforms into an epic chase through nine iconic artworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collections. Cat themed activities and crafts will follow the storytime presentation.

 

Books will be available for purchase through High Five Books, and an author signing will follow the program.

 

​​This Mass Kids Lit Fest event is presented in partnership with the Massachusetts Center for the Book. For a full schedule, please visit https://www.makidslitfest.org/.

 

Children’s book author and illustrator Brian Lies has created over thirty children’s books, including his acclaimed Cat Nap, which garnered seven starred trade reviews and was named a 2025 ALA Notable Book, Boston Globe Best Book, and a SCBWI Golden Kite Award finalist. His 2019 book, The Rough Patch, was a Caldecott Honors title, and his other works include his New York Times-bestselling bat books—Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame, Bats in the Band, and Little Bat / Up All Day—as well as Wombat Said Come In. This September, Lies will publish Diffy, a thoughtful ode to storytelling that chronicles an anglerfish’s encounter with a dictionary.

 

Brian’s work has been featured on The Martha Stewart Show, named as a top ten book of the year by Time/CNN, and read aloud on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday by Scott Simon and Daniel Pinkwater. Brian spends part of every school year traveling throughout the United States to work with students and encourage them in their goals. He lives with his family in Duxbury, Massachusetts.