A new children’s book, The Kitty of Knoxville, with ties to downtown and the University of Tennessee has been published by Wesley (Wes) Bennett. A long-time friend (and neighbor for ten years), Wes told me several years ago he had an idea for a picture book. A lot of people have ideas, but Wes crafted his idea into a reality, employing professional illustrator, Finn Dean, from Great Britain, who provided lush illustrations throughout. The result speaks for itself, and you can find it at numerous downtown outlets and online at Kitty of Knoxville as we speak. I recently spoke with Wes about his background, the idea for the book, and the process that resulted in it becoming a reality.
Wes feels the book fills a gap in the market for local children’s books that cover the sites of downtown and UT and teaches some history and tradition of the city and the university along the way. As a UT graduate and a downtown resident for almost twenty years, Wes knows the subject well. His book follows a young kitty who attends UT, marries, and raises a child in and around downtown. The parallels to Wes are apparent, but the themes and sites are universal and well-known to everyone connected with the city.
Wes is from Knoxville where his father taught in the philosophy department at the University of Tennessee. He attended Bearden schools, graduating high school at Webb. Other than a few random years outside Knoxville, he’s lived in the city. He moved downtown in 2007 and was joined by his wife and, later, a daughter who they are raising in the heart of the city.
One of his forays into other cities involved living in Athens, Georgia for a year, which is significant because it was there he helped produced a low-budget film. He said the experience taught him a lot, including the idea that the lesson that the odds are tremendously against success for truly independent films. He thinks with a professional illustrator, the odds may be better in the children’s book arena. “This book looks as good as any other books (on the market). A regular person can make a book, whereas a regular person can’t make a movie.”
He worked at Regal and currently works with 21st Mortgage. Along the way he explored other creative endeavors like writing movie reviews, a couple of which got published, and creating games. He started writing the book with his daughter in mind, though she grew out of picture books while he worked on the project. He said that when she was born, he feels he became more creative, occupying his mind during the late-night, early morning hours, then later making games for her to play and exploring narratives with her as they played.
He noticed that a lot of children’s movies were extremely well done, but the books they found to read to their daughter weren’t always great. “Anyone thinks they can do a children’s book because they are short . . . During COVID I wrote a short book . . . and sent it to a couple of publishers.” He didn’t get much traction, but he saw a series of children’s books that focused on Memphis, and felt he could do the same thing for Knoxville while making the writing more complex and interesting.
He started work on a similar book for Knoxville but “it got more ambitious” as the work continued. His daughter had a stuffed kitty he had long called “Kitty of Knoxville” and he had the idea to make Kitty the central character. A Google search found nothing under that name, so he got the website and started work. He said he came up with several bad ideas initially, like having Kitty live in the Sunsphere. Ultimately, he leaned into Dr. Seuss, a favorite of his daughter’s.
“The rhyming scheme gradually became more ambitious.” One of the stops got up to six rhymes and that set the bar for the other stops along the way. He also didn’t shy away from ideas like parent fatigue, with at least one spot where the father is clearly tired while the child wants to play. He also interspersed other scenes beyond the text via a map and the inside covers and said it was hard to decide what to leave in and what to omit. He also included two pages of facts about the city at the end for the grown-ups to learn more.
He said the idea for the book simply would not leave him alone and once he got started, he knew he would see it through. Once he had the book essentially written, he pursued an illustrator with the idea that he wanted someone whose work would stand up to any other book on the shelf. Through an agency, he found Finn Dean, an award-winning illustrator. He had drawn cat characters and soccer stadiums (making Neyland not seem like such a leap) and Wes found his illustrations to be “more serious” than a lot of the illustrators he reviewed. He agreed to do the project if Wes would hire a professional to make the layout, which he did, and the flow of the book shows the extra effort.
There are no blank pages because Wes determined that “every page had to matter.” All of this increased the price to make the book, but he felt it was worth it. He said the time involved allowed him to work and re-work the rhymes and the flow.
Wes is hoping the book will reach wider distribution and will have it with national vendors. For now, it is easily found all around downtown. You’ll see copies at the Visitor Center, Union Avenue Books, Bliss, Nothing Too Fancy, and Embassy Suites. He expects to add other places soon. If you can’t make it to any of those spots, you can order it directly online from The Kitty of Knoxville. It’s a perfect small gift or stocking stuffer and a great way for children to learn about their city.