‘Pete the Cat’ illustrator talks about getting and painting a blue cat

By Emilie Kelly, Staff Reporter

COLONIAL GYM — Illustrator James Dean and author Eric Litwin talked about their children’s book series, “Pete the Cat,” on Nov. 9.

Mr. Dean said that one day he went to a shelter and got a black kitten named Pete.

“And every day he would sit on my lap when I painted, until I painted him, and it looked good,” he said. “You have to draw his eyes really precise.”

Mr. Dean was asked about the real Pete’s color and replied that since black cats were a sign of bad luck, he changed Pete’s color to blue for the paintings.

There are two books in the series, “Pete the Cat: I Love My New Shoes” and “Pete the Cat: Rocking In My School Shoes.”

This story also appears on the Colonial Times website.