He talked with host Suzanne McCabe about the genesis of Cat on the Run, his latest series for young readers. In Book 1, Cat on the Run in Cat of Death!, Princess Beautiful, the world’s biggest cat video star, is accused of a crime she didn’t commit. Can the most famous feline on the planet avoid capture and prove her innocence? Readers will find out in Aaron’s hilarious new trilogy about the perils of social media and cancel culture.

You probably know Aaron from The Bad Guys, his mega-bestselling book series. The Bad Guys was made into an animated movie in 2022 by Universal Pictures and DreamWorks. A sequel is on the way next summer.

Aaron is also the author of the popular series Pig the Pug and Thelma the Unicorn. With the 20th and final installment of The Bad Guys due out in November, Aaron says that he’s ready to step away from writing.

“I always wrote my books specifically for my own kids, to make them laugh, but now they’re all grown up,” he told Publishers Weekly. “It was a magical time but it’s over, just like childhood. It’s bittersweet but it’s also beautiful.”

→ Resources
Cat on the Run in Cat of Death!: How do you avoid capture and prove your innocence when you’re the most famous feline on the planet? Princess Beautiful finds out the hard way.
Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness: Social media star Princess Beautiful has been plunged into a world where danger lurks everywhere, and cucumbers are no laughing matter.
The Bad Guys: In Aaron’s wildly-popular book series, The Bad Guys, a motley collection of wannabe heroes are doing good deeds—whether you like it or not.

→ Highlights
Aaron Blabey, bestselling author and illustrator
On creating the character of Princess Beautiful in Cat on the Run: “She was inspired by the world we currently live in, I have to say. My kids are now 15 and 18, and I’ve been watching them navigating social media…. I’ve been watching with interest how that universe is sort of playing out in the world. I also have a really highly strung cat. Those two things . . . and the old movie The Fugitive, they all kind of clicked together in my head, and Cat on the Run popped out.”
On writing The Bad Guys: “I was only trying to make my son laugh, but it seems that the same stuff that makes him laugh has made lots of other kids laugh.”
On writing graphic novels: “We live in a world where kids are just bombarded with visual information, and they’re so visually literate. What I’ve tried to do with The Bad Guys and also certainly with Cat on the Run is do something that feels relevant for them.”
→ Special Thanks
Producer: Maxine Osa
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon

Alice Hoffman: When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

The impulse in creating the series, Aaron tells host Suzanne McCabe, “was to make sure my son had a book to read that was fun.”

The author and illustrator, who was an award-winning actor in Australia in a previous life, is also the creator of the Pig the Pug series and Thelma the Unicorn.

Resources:
Aaron Blabey: Learn more about the #1 New York Times best-selling author.
The Bad Guys: Read the books. Watch the movie.

Highlights:
Aaron Blabey, author and illustrator, The Bad Guys:

“Mr. Snake is my favorite of the ‘Bad Guys’ because he’s the one who struggles the most with the journey, which makes him the most interesting to write.”

“Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake are two halves of me…. I think we all have it—your optimistic side and your pessimistic side.”

“When kids saw the cover with the guys in the suits, with a shark and a wolf and this title, The Bad Guys, I think there’s this sort of frisson of ‘that looks a little bit naughty.’”

Of his teenage sons’ view of him: “’It’s just Dad in the garage. How hard can it be?’”

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
Because of You, John Lewis: A conversation with author Andrea Davis Pinkney and U.S. Representative Nikema Williams