Illustration by Chris Jones

This is one of the eight illustrations created by Chris Jones under his pen name Jubalee for Kevin Coolidge’s new book, “The Cat Board and the Cardboard Caper.” When he first began illustrating Coolidge’s Totally Ninja Raccoon series in 2015, Jones lived in Wellsboro but now lives in Florida.

Kevin Coolidge, children’s author, will be releasing “The Cat Board and the Cardboard Caper” later this month. The book is the first in his new series involving the Cat Board, the main antagonists in his Totally Ninja Raccoons series. 

“Writing the Cat Board scenes in the Totally Ninja Raccoons is a lot of fun. I also felt the Cat Board deserved its own series,” said Coolidge. 

“Currently, 65 percent of those reading the Totally Ninja Raccoon books are boys between the ages of 7 to 10 and 30 percent are girls in that same age group. The remaining 5 percent are adults,” he noted.

“By focusing on cats, my goal is to encourage more girls to read the first book in my new series, which may lead them to get interested in also reading the Totally Ninja Raccoons,” said Coolidge.

“At the same time, I want to give my current readers another exciting adventure series,” he said.

“The Cat Board is the international organization that is plotting against the Totally Ninja Raccoons and humanity,” said Coolidge.

“Cats love boxes. Boxes are important to commerce. Control the flow of cardboard and boxes and you control the world, or at least that’s the Cat Board’s plan. You might have suspected that cats want to take over the world, and now you know it’s true,” he laughed

“People often ask me where my ideas come from. It’s often hard to explain, but the new book is definitely influenced by my blue-collar background and my most recent experience of working in a box factory,” said Coolidge.

“I love writing and working in the bookstore, but the pandemic has been hard on retail. I went to work at the factory to help the bookstore through tough times. This idea came to me while I was there and I decided it was a perfect first book for the new series,” he said. 

Coolidge is planning to write more Cat Board and Totally Ninja Raccoon stories. Readers don’t have to be familiar with the Totally Ninja Raccoons to enjoy the new series.

Signed, personalized copies of “The Cat Board and the Cardboard Caper” can be ordered now in advance of its publication by calling From My Shelf Books & Gifts at 570-724-5793. Copies can also be reserved in-person by stopping in at Coolidge’s bookstore at 7 East Avenue in Wellsboro.