Ever wondered what Taylor Swift’s cats were up to while she was gone? Well, Schreiber senior Taylor Sinett has. She even wrote a children’s book about Swift’s furry friends Meredith and Olivia, but it’s not just any children’s book. Sinett donates all of the proceeds made from Furry and Fabulous: The Life and Times of Taylor Swift’s Cats to The Companions in Courage Foundation.
Sinett began writing and illustrating books to help her cousin who suffers from ulcerative colitis when she was 12, publishing her first children’s book Weasel on an Easel and donating 100 percent of the profits to The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. At 14, Sinett published her second book Jack on a Plaque and donated all of the funds raised to Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Three year later, Sinett wrote Furry and Fabulous: The Life and Times of Taylor Swift’s Cats, which published in October of 2017.
“I love Taylor Swift,” said Sinett. “She really inspires me because she’s very talented and philanthropic. I think her cats are really cute and thought they would be cute children’s book characters. The third book was the hardest for me. As I’ve gotten older, my books have become more involved.”
The children’s book story follows Swift’s cats who believe they are famous, not Swift. In the end, Meredith and Olivia figure out that Swift is actually the famous one, but love her anyway. Sinett explained that her past two books had messages of perseverance and determination, while the third holds themes of love and acceptance.
“I hid Taylor’s treasures throughout the book like the little Easter eggs she hides for her fans to find in her music videos,” said Sinett. “There’s a key in the back of the book to help readers find them.”
Furry and Fabulous took a total of two years for Sinett to create as the illustration process was the longest yet. Sinett explained that she tried to keep her drawing style simple, creating cute, round animals and only drawing the legs of the humans in the book. Published by East End Publishing, Sinett decided that her third book’s funds would go toward The Companions in Courage Foundation, an organization originally founded by NHL Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine in 1997 that builds interactive playrooms in hospitals throughout North America.
“The foundation builds technologically advanced playrooms in hospitals for children,” said Sinett. “When my cousin was younger, she would have appreciated the rooms. My dad knows the founder so when I wrote the book and was looking for a charity, we had him in mind. We approached him and he said, ‘yeah, sounds great.’”
Sinett recently read the Furry and Fabulous in a Companions in Courage room at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center, where the reading was streamed to all other hospitals with the Companions in Courage rooms across America.
“That’s one of my favorite things about this process,” said Sinett. “I love to read to hospitals and schools. You get to see their reactions and how much it means to them. A lot of kids are stuck in hospitals and I like to bring the fun and get them engaged.”
For more information about Sinett and her books, visit www.taylorsinett.com.
