about the book
Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony are best friends who spend a lot of time together. Since they played ballet yesterday, Sparkles suggests making crafts today.
“Yay! Crafts!” Ballet Cat gushes. “Oh, no! We should not leap with scissors. Can you pick something else?”
“I know. We can play checkers.”
“Yes! Checkers! …Oh, but our kicks might knock over the checkerboard.”
Eventually two end up playing ballet again, which is really the only activity that goes well with leaping, spinning, and twirling.
Sparkles is upset. They always play ballet. But if he tells Ballet Cat his secret, then he risks his friendship with Ballet Cat! He can’t do that! Little does Sparkles know, Ballet Cat also has a secret.
Will the secrets bring the two friends closer, or tear them apart?
about the author/illustrator
As a kid, Bob Shea was an avid reader. His bedroom floor was always a mess of toys and books, especially Berenstain Bear books. The first book he remembers reading all by himself was Inside, Outside, Upside Down, a really cool book about a kid playing with a big cardboard box with eye holes.
Bob went to school to study graphic design. He has written, illustrated, and animated for Nick Jr., Noggin, and PBS Kids. He helped PBS Kids develop their national literacy plan. He also worked for Comedy Central as a print designer. He and his wife, Colleen, own and run their own graphic design company, Perfectly Nice. Bob says he is the boss!
Bob is up by 5:00 am writing or sketching, but he admits that he spends a lot of time goofing around and napping during the day. He has a quiet little cluttered studio over a yarn shop. A prolific sketcher, he makes his notebooks… otherwise, he claims, he’d go broke!
Even though one of his books has unicorns in it, Bob says he never even thought about Unicorn Think He’s Pretty Great as a girl book. After all, Bob’s son Ryan really enjoyed the slightly goofy unicorn. And let’s face it, anytime you have a goat with attitude, you’ve just got to giggle!
Bob got his start in the publishing business when he stumbled across famed author Lane Smith at a conference. After sharing some humor essays with Lane, the two started emailing. When Bob sent Lane pages from a book he was working on, Lane helped him meet the people necessary to get the book published.
Bob, Colleen, and their son Ryan live in Madison, Connecticut.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Mikela Prevost
Author interview: Sharpread
Also by Bob Shea:
The Happiest Book Ever. Disney-Hyperion. September 2016.
Ballet Cat : Dance! Dance! Underpants! Disney-Hyperion. 2016.
Dinosaur Vs. Mommy. Disney-Hyperion. 2015.
Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads. Roaring Brook Press. 2014.
Dinosaur Vs. School. Disney-Hyperion. 2014.
Don’t Play with Your Food! Hyperion Press. 2014.
Cheetah Can’t Lose. Balzer + Bray. 2013.
Dinosaur Vs. Santa. Hyperion Press. 2012.
Dinosaur Vs. the Library. Hyperion Press. 2011.
I’m a Shark. Balzer + Bray. 2011.
Oh, Daddy! Balzer + Bray. 2010.
Race You to Bed. Harper Collins. 2010.
Big Plans. Hyperion Press. 2008.
New Socks. Little, Brown and Company. 2007.
read more!
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