I was recently inspired to write and illustrate a story based off a real life character, a cat named Poof.
Poof came into my life, or I should say me to his, many years ago. Before I dive into my story about Poof, I must first admit I am an animal person. I love all sorts of animals; dogs, cats, birds. If I had all the money in the world I think I would have a house for cats and a house for dogs where all could roam free and be warm and snuggly and fed (of course all these animals would be ones from shelters that needed a home!). Animals are amazing. They are able to take your mood and turn it upside down. They provide unconditional love, companionship, laughter; I could go on and on, but then we’ll never get to my book.
Observing Poof over all these years I’ve determined he is literally the definition of a scaredy-cat:
scared·y-cat/ˈskerdēˌkat/nounINFORMALnoun: scaredy-cat; plural noun: scaredy-cats
- a timid person.”we contemptuously called them scaredy-cats”
Now, just to clear up, he’s not a sad scaredy-cat type of cat, so don’t feel he is being spooked all the time and has this terrible life. He receives tremendous amounts of love, care, snacks, meals, toys, and friends to play with. I also should mention Poof thinks he is a tiger; a ferocious, strong, big tiger. He has a scaredy cat personality, but when he is not scared, he stands very tall and strong and proud. He wanders around the house, will come over to you for a pet, but then walk away; whereas my other kitty will hop up in your lap and purr for hours. It really is his personality.
A few years ago, we were moving into another house. When the movers finished packing up the bedroom, there seemed to be one “item” left in the room.
Behind the curtain stood Poof. Obviously he did not realize his body was showing, but he thought that if he can’t see anything or anyone then they can’t see him. That moment warmed my heart so much and made me realize how sweet and precious our animals are. Here was my kitty, scared as can be. My proud tiger, not wanting to show his face in this scary jungle. I scooped him up and loved on him so. What a sweetheart. This brought me to the inspiration behind my book, Poof the Scaredy Cat and the Big Thunderstorm. An easy read for the kiddos to follow along as Poof finds different places to hide from the scary thunderstorm, only to find out that the thunderstorm is actually not that scary after all. You can find Poof the Scaredy Cat and the Big Thunderstorm as hardcover and paperback here. Fun bonus in this story is there is a great life lesson to learn – if something scares you, find a different way to look at it. You are in control of your mind and your thoughts. Unfortunately this is a little hard to teach to a cat, especially one named Poof. 🙂 Then you just have to love and give lots of pets when you find him hiding behind the curtain.
Stories by Katie J 