Wholly Entertaining: Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris

I have long been a fan of Mac Barnett's work, especially his picture book Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and his humorous chapter book series Mac B., Kid Spy and The Terrible Two.

When I learned author Mac Barnett and illustrator Shawn Harris would be stopping in Wichita on a tour promoting book three of the First Cat in Space series, I immediately made plans to attend. The event was an hour of pure fun and entertainment. 

Barnett and Harris have been friends since they were kids, which is not surprising considering their obvious camaraderie. The event felt less like a presentation and more like they had invited the audience into their private clubhouse to play along as they told stories together. It is obvious that they love what they do, and they are consummate professionals at the art of playing and letting their imaginations run wild.

​The result was a session that had kids and adults alike engaged and totally engrossed in the world of First Cat and the rest of the kooky characters.

First Cat got his start during the COVID shut-down when Mac and Shawn streamed weekly "live cartoons" on Instagram. Later, those ideas became a graphic novel that has now grown into a series of three books. Not only has the duo created physical representations of their characters, but also a distinctive voice for each one. Barnett and Harris have recorded full audio narrations of the First Cat books complete with music and sound effects. They performed excerpts of the books live for the audience along with the illustrations projected on a screen. 

They brought the whole thing up a notch when Shawn grabbed a guitar, took his place in front of a microphone, and proceeded to lead a sing-along of songs written to complement the story. The First Cat in Space website is a treasure trove of content: you can watch the original "live cartoons," listen to the audio narration while viewing the illustrations, and listen to the songs.

I can't wait to share all this with my students. They are going to love it! 

I was thrilled to get an autographed copy of the newest First Cat book for my school library. After the presentation, I waited in line to meet Mac and Shawn and get a photo with them in front of the fun space-themed backdrop. I loved getting to say hello and tell them, "Thank you for creating books the kids love to read."