New NY-centric children’s book follows ‘Cat in the City’
Brooklyn BookBeat: Author, Illustrator to Speak in Cobble Hill
Julie Salamon and Jill Weber, the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator team that brought readers “The Christmas Tree,” introduce a new animal adventure in the tradition of “A Cricket in Times Square” with “Cat in the City” (Dial) — the tale of a streetwise feline living in the Big Apple. Salamon and Weber will appear in Brooklyn on Nov. 2 to present the book at BookCourt in Cobble Hill.
Inspired by the story of the real Pretty Boy, Mayor of East 7th Street, who roamed the south side of the block between First Avenue and Avenue A for some 20 years before passing in 2009, the story — which illustrates a fictional account of one of Manhattan’s most beloved neighborhood cats — appeals to readers of all ages. A 2009 article published in The Villager, titled “Pretty Boy, the Mayor of E. 7th, is mourned; He was one cool cat,” chronicled the real Pretty Boy’s life: “…a white cat named Pretty Boy … walked the south side of the street for more than 20 years,” wrote Albert Amateau.
The New York Times also reported on the beloved creature. On June 19, 2009, the Times published an article by Christine Haughney that read “Pretty Boy, believed to have been about 22 years old, was a local fixture for over a decade, making his rounds on the south side of the block between First Avenue and Avenue A, as shops opened and closed and renters moved in and out. His death last month, of natural causes, unleashed a storm of emotion.”
