Kitty Caterpillar by Annabeth Bondor-Stone & Connor White, illustrated by Brigette Barrager

A caterpillar is not a cat — but what if it was? Kitty Caterpillar is an adorable exploration of that exact question! This picture book exudes color and whimsy, featuring Kitty Caterpillar, a fluffy pink and purple cat with many wacky legs and charming antennae. Her springy whiskers and long fur remind me of my own fluffy cat!

I was gifted a copy of this book from a friend who attended the 2025 NCTE convention, but I've been seeing ads for Kitty Caterpillar in industry newsletters for months now. It looks like Macmillan imprint Balzer + Bray is all in on Kitty Caterpillar — they've announced a 75k first print run and have an adorable merchandising kit with easels, shelf talkers, and sticker sheets. (Does this mean I can hope for a plush?)

In Kitty Caterpillar, we're introduced to the titular character and her owner Hazel. Kitty Caterpillar is an indoor cat who spends her days napping, chewing on plants, and looking forward to waking up Hazel for morning hugs. When a butterfly intrigues her enough for her to go outside, Kitty Caterpillar runs into trouble. She pounces on a birdbath and gets herself all wet, then hides in fear before finding the butterfly again, Lucky for Kitty Caterpillar, the butterfly leads her straight to Hazel's treehouse! Hazel comforts Kitty Caterpillar with one of her signature hugs, and Kitty falls asleep to dream about becoming a butterflion,

I love this page of Kitty Caterpillar running down the stairs... you can practically hear her soft little feet clomping all the way down!

For cat lovers who've spent any time online, you'll quickly recognize phrases like, "floof," "toe beans," "making biscuits," and "catloaf." The authors delight in purr puns, which makes for a silly readaloud experience.

A repeated refrain of "slink... slink..." comes before each of Kitty Caterpillar's pounces. I was delighted to laugh at the way Kitty looks before each of her pounces. It's a nice pattern in the text and a reflection of actual cat behavior. (Even kitty caterpillars like to hunt and stalk, apparently!)

Kitty Caterpillar is Seuss-ian in the absurd shapes she gets herself into. What a delight to see a long, fluffy creature twist into such silly configurations!

Kitty Caterpillar and Hazel share hugs in another touchpoint in the book, with Kitty and Hazel reuniting for hugs at the end in a callback to the sweet beginning.

We're never given a full explanation of this world and it's rules (are all cats also caterpillars, or just this one? How many other odd creatures inhabit this world? Do kitty caterpillars really turn into butterflions?), but it's one of whimsy and color sure to delight young readers. Brigette Barrager's art is eccentric and full of character; Kitty Caterpillar sports purple paws and hot pink spots, while Hazel has rosy cheeks and knees with little curls springing up from her hair. What we see of Kitty Caterpillar's world is bright and full of delightful shapes, with a buoyant color palette and textured pastel backgrounds.

The creators have set themselves up nicely for what I suspect will be a new series of books around Kitty Caterpillar — after all, Barrager created the illustrations for the bestselling Uni the Unicorn series. I expect to see many more Kitty Caterpillar books and I look forward to seeing more of this world!

Book Info

• Title: Kitty Caterpillar

• Publisher: Balzer + Bray/Macmillan

• ISBN: 9781250392893

• Author: Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Connor White

• Illustrator: Brigette Barrager

• Pub date: Feb 2026

• Source: https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1250392896&g=4400

P.S. I explored the authors' website, and I am DESPERATE to know more about this crocheted Kitty Caterpillar plush!

Image via annabethandconnor.com