The white cat then dies, and the cycle begins anew when the family adopts a new kitten.

[1] A couple of years after the adoption, one of them died, and Cooper observed that his daughter was less familiar with death as a child than he had been.

[2] Cooper wrote and illustrated the book simultaneously, saying "I love how words and images play off each other.

[2] In developing the book, he drew inspiration from Kevin Henkes Caldecott-winning story Kitten's First Full Moon.

[3][6] The black-and-white illustrations were a change in style for Cooper[3][7] and were compared in Publishers Weekly to those of a Japanese brush painter.

[6] Cooper used thick,[8] bold lines[7] to, in the words of Martha Parravano, writing for The Horn Book Magazine, "produce figures full of kinetic energy and personality".

[9] The largely monochromatic drawings[7][8] were accompanied by a few pages with colored backgrounds, mostly yellow,[3][4] with one grey.

[5] The illustrations were recognized with a 2018 Caldecott Honor, with the award committee citing how the book's "[s]imple and joyful domestic routines underscore the deeply entwined lives of two feline companions and the impact of loss on one".