The contents of Courtney Roberts’ bedroom — bed brimming with fuzzy stuffed animals, windowsills stocked with horseback-riding awards and soccer trophies, walls adorned in puppy pictures and kitty calendars, and shelves upon shelves of books — give us a glimpse into her 9-year-old mind. The St. Patrick Catholic School fourth-grader and author of “UH-OH! Cat” recently allowed us into her room, and she let us pick her brain about her tall tales, ranging interests and ambitions for the future.
Your bed is covered in stuffed animals, so where do you sleep?
Right in the middle of them!
What gave you the idea for the “UH-OH! Cat” book?
My power writing teacher [Mrs. Suter, third grade] told us to write a story. I had the idea of UH-OH! from my two cats [pauses thoughtfully] and because I wanted cake.
For that answer to make more sense, might you give us a quick description of the story you wrote?
Mom is baking a cake for John — John is my cousin who also goes to St. Patrick. Mom goes out to the store and while she’s gone, the cat really wants the cake and keeps trying not to think about the cake, but he can’t stop thinking about the cake. [Spoiler alert] Cat gets into the cake. He tries to clean it up, and he feels bad.
So, is there a lesson for kids in this story?
Yes. Even if you do something bad, your family still loves you.
What does Mrs. Suter think of you turning the assignment into a book?
She didn’t even know until this year that it was because of her.
I heard your book was helping animals, how’s that?
Every book I sell donates $1 to the SPCA. I am also selling UH OH! Cat wristbands for $4 and giving $1 of that to the SPCA.
What made you want to give your money to them?
I saw this really sad commercial [Yep, we know the one — that heart-wrenching spot featuring singer Sarah McLachlan], and it made me want to give some of the money to help animals have clean cages and food. I also have asked for my birthday gifts for the past three years to be donations to the SPCA.
So you’ve gone without birthday gifts for the past three years?
Well, people sometimes still give me presents. Sometimes they give presents and the money [to the SPCA].
What was it like to read your book in front of the whole school?
Weird, scary. My cousin John says, “Why’d you put my name in it?”
Do you plan to keep being a writer as you grow up?
[Shrugs] I really want to be an architect, because I like to draw. I have another book coming out soon called “UH-OH! Giraffe”, so we’ll see how well that does.
Purchase “UH-OH! Cat” at The Store in Lake Highlands, or through Courtney’s website, uhohanimals.com, where you can also play the UH-OH video game. You can also follow Courtney Roberts on Facebook.
