One Week Away

Imminent Skeleton and Cat book release!

The Skeleton and the Cat comes out in one week on July 7th!

I’m going to be upfront here: Today’s newsletter is going to be a one-week-away-from-launch-shameless-self-promotion post.

Listen, it’s 2026. The internet is broken. Our attention is being pulled in a million and one directions. I gotta do it. And this is a book I’m really proud of and I hope you (and your children) will like it very much.

Also, preorders and first week sales can really help a book. And books need all the help they can get these days.

So allow me go over why I think you should buy my book, if you haven’t already, and I know a good many of you have, and you are amazing:

There is a Skeleton in it

Skeleton’s are great. I don’t have to tell you this, you already know it. When is the last time you read a book with a Skeleton in it that wasn’t great? Think about it.

Btw, did you know that pound for pound, human bone is actually stronger than steel?

There is a Cat in it

How do you balance the mighty presence of a Skeleton with a sidekick? You make the sidekick a Cat. I grew up with a Cat, and I credit my childhood feline friend for helping me develop into the independent and slightly neurotic adult human I am today.

Like Skeletons, Cats are also, great.

There are 5 stories in it, and they are short

As I wrote about last time, The Skeleton and the Cat has five short stories rather than one big one. I think this is great for you, the reader, when reading this book to children.

If one story hits it out of the park–you’re feeling it, your child is feeling it, we’re all feeling it–you can run it back and read it again. You know it wont take very long. Or, you can keep going… there’s four more waiting for you.

If, however, you knock two stories down and it’s just not working that day, you can stop right there and pick it back up again tomorrow without losing a beat.

There is a lot of art to look at and it’s always in the same place

We made this book have a very classic layout with copy on the left side of the spread and a picture on the right.

This is great if someone is reading it to you, as you can just keep your eyes on the right side and new art will always land where your eyes already are. It’s very convenient.

There is a skullwich in it

I’m not certain, but it’s quite possible that this is the first appearance of a skull sandwich in a book.

The Skeleton has a big house with lots of things in it

Look at this library:

This is inside her home. Pretty great.

Other people are saying nice things about it

There are some amazing people out there who have seen the book and like it and have shared their thoughts about it.

The Skeleton and the Cat has five starred reviews so far–Here they are:

★ "Funny, vibrant, and surprisingly tender—in short, everything a good friendship should be."
— Kirkus (Starred Review)

★ “A friendship story with a bona fide funny bone—and soul to spare”
— Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

★ “Tender and visually radiant”
— Shelf Awareness (starred review)

★ "A surefire hit"
— Booklist (starred review)

★ “a simple story of friendship with a clipped wit”
— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

The book has also been chosen by the American Booksellers Association as their #1 Kids Indie Next Pick for July/August. This pick was nominated by a number of amazing booksellers across America.

You can get a copy almost anywhere

If you do want to preorder, and I thank you very much if you do, you can get it at lots of different places.

First, if you have a local independent bookstore, please go inside, say hello, and buy things from them. They’re very nice and they’re doing important work selling books and could use your business. You can ask them if they’re carrying the book, and if they aren’t, many will order one for you because they love books and love people like you getting books.

You can buy the book from Bookshop, which supports independent bookstores (in the US):

You can also head to the publisher’s website to find lots of other links to places to buy in the US, Canada, UK and elsewhere:

And lastly, if you are somewhere where these links aren’t helping you, you can check your local bookstore or Amazon to find it.

Thank you so much if you have already or are planning to order a copy! And if or when you do get one, I would love it if you shared a picture and tagged me on instagram.

The book officially arrives in stores on July 7th!