Bruce Finds a Home

Kaythryn van Beek's new children's book Bruce Finds A Home is now in stores following launch parties at the Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop (Auckland, 11 Feb) and the University Bookshop (Dunedin, 17 Feb). Author / illustrator Kathryn van Beek crowd-funded the book, which was published through Mary Egan Publishing. 

Two years ago Bruce the Cat was a day-old kitten lying alone on the side of the road. Now he's all grown up – and he’s released his first book.

“When I found Bruce his survival story quickly went viral,” says author Kathryn van Beek. “Now he has fans all over the world – and they helped me bring Bruce’s story to life as a children’s book.”

Kathryn is an award-winning writer who has a master’s degree in creative writing. Over the past two years she’s also written a steady stream of social media posts about her famous cat … and she’s learnt all about how to care for new-born kittens.

“When I found Bruce he was as small as a mouse and his eyes were still closed,” Kathryn says. “I bottle-fed him around the clock to keep him alive. He was also grey due to a condition known as ‘fever coat’. There was a lot of speculation on social media that he was Siamese or a British Blue … but he eventually morphed into a mischievous black moggie!”

Bruce Finds a Home is loosely based on the story of how Bruce was found. In the book, six-year-old Kate finds a kitten on her way home from school. She knocks at every door in the street and speaks to all her neighbours ... but no one can give the kitten a home. What will Kate do?

The book is set in Bruce’s neighbourhood of Port Chalmers, Dunedin, and was developed with editorial advice from the new entrants at Port Chalmers School. The richly-coloured illustrations reflect the vibrant landscapes of the quirky seaside town.

Determined to produce a beautiful book that would do justice to Bruce’s story, Kathryn enlisted award-winning book designer Anna Egan-Reid and ran a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money to cover printing costs.

“It’s incredible to think that hundreds of people from New Lynn to New York played a part in making this book happen,” Kathryn says. “I’ve spent the past few months creating personalised videos and bespoke pet portraits for my backers. And now that everything’s finally finished … I’m looking forward to seeing what's next!”