A captivating new children's book featuring meticulously crafted illustrations of a fluffy cat named Shibu is making waves in the creative community. "Shibu's Tail," written by debut children's author Tess Thomas and illustrated by Malaysian artist Kamwei Fong, tells the heartwarming story of a cat with a magnificent tail who must navigate the attention his distinctive feature attracts while learning to express his emotions.
The 46-page book showcases Fong's extraordinary artistic technique, with each individual hair in Shibu's luxurious coat drawn by hand using Sakura Pigma Micron pens. The artist created between 80 to 100 illustrations for the book, applying thousands of short strokes to achieve the realistic fur texture that has become his signature style. "Cats are fluid and incredibly flexible. In my imagination, they can become anything," Fong explains. "That idea shaped how I created Shibu, especially his tail. It became the main way he expresses his emotions, a kind of visual language on its own."
Fong's obsession with feline subjects traces back to his "Furry Thing" series, which began in 2009. Surprisingly, the artist was originally a dog person but found himself drawn to cats when he shifted from 20 years of digital work to hands-on creativity. After experimenting with ceramics, painting, and soft plushies, he settled on hand-drawn animals, finding that digital tools couldn't match the authentic texture he sought. "The Furry Thing pieces demand precision, consistency and a great deal of patience to achieve that soft, smooth, graduated texture," he notes. "But the consistency isn't mechanical; it's not a lifeless repetition. There's a quiet rhythm in the process, something alive and intentional in every mark."
The collaboration between Thomas and Fong began with a serendipitous birthday gift. Thomas received one of Fong's artworks from her brother for her 30th birthday. One evening while bathing her child, she looked at the print and began drafting the story for "Shibu's Tail" in the Notes app on her iPhone. She later worked with her brother, an editor at independent publisher Levine Querido, to develop the story and pitch it to the artist. "One of the things I have always loved most about cats is their expressiveness," says Thomas, who dedicated the book to her own cats, Jane and Charlotte. "Kamwei's approach using fine lines really captures cats' energy, their humor and their ability to convey so much with just a flick of their tail or a twitch of their fur."
The book joins a long tradition of beloved feline characters in art and literature, from John Tenniel's Cheshire Cat to Yuko Shimizu's Hello Kitty. Fong's character design for Shibu was directly based on his previous work "Kitty No.101," demonstrating how his artistic vision has evolved while maintaining consistency. The artist emphasizes that creating an entire book required a completely different approach than producing individual pieces. "I had to shift my perspective to ensure that each illustration was given the same level of care and intention, so the overall quality would remain consistent from start to finish," he explains.
For readers who might not typically gravitate toward cat-themed stories, Thomas offers encouraging news. She and Fong are already planning a new adventure for Shibu that will appeal to both cat and dog lovers alike. Thomas expresses her continued amazement at the collaboration, stating, "I will never get over the fact that Kamwei agreed to bring my words to life with his incredible art." The book represents a perfect marriage of storytelling and visual artistry, demonstrating how inspiration can strike from unexpected moments and develop into meaningful creative projects that resonate with audiences of all ages.
