BOOK ON WELLINGTON’S FAMOUS FELINE MITTENS TO HIT SHELVES
Source: TVNZ (Extract)
Posted: August 8, 2021
Mittens, also known as His Royal Floofiness, is a feline with a fondness for meeting his loyal subjects on the streets of Wellington.
From shops and hairdressers, to bakeries and universities, the well-travelled Turkish Angora is rarely seen at home, preferring instead to roam the capital’s CBD where there are pats aplenty.
Owner Silvio Bruinsma has had the 11-year-old 2020 New Zealander of the Year contender since he was a kitten.
“I knew he was wandering around, I just didn’t know it was so documented online,” he told Seven Sharp.
“A lovely lady at the SPCA set up this page called The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens to allow people to post on there so that they’d know he had a place to go and he wasn’t lost.”
Bruinsma was astonished to see where he’d been.
“Cuba street, he used to hang around at Glassons a bit, the Salvation Army store, the church down the road, he likes,” he explained.
He’s also “interrupted a health and safety briefing” after roaming into an office block.
With fans across the country and the world, it’s fair to say the legend of Mittens has spread far and wide.
His famous mug has inspired a hit single, a show, t-shirts, a museum exhibit and now, the holder of the key to the city of Wellington can add a picture book to the list.
“I thought it was a nice way to capture some of stories and the adventures he’s had and also, really, for my kids,” Bruinsma, who wrote the book, said.
Illustrator Phoebe Morris first met Mittens in a book shop.
“I was kind of like, ‘Whose cat is this?'”
“There was a later time where he actually got into my car, which sounds really bad but I didn’t invite him into my car — he just jumped straight in the back seat and into the boot.”
She’s not the first driver he has accosted, however, with some loyal subjects providing lifts up the hill as required.
Bruinsma said a fan from Colombia said her father, who had dementia, had messaged him to let him know “the one thing that her father did every day was ask what Mittens was up to”.
While charities will benefit from his memoir, there’s still more adventuring in store for Mittens on his four paws.
“He’s a family member — always has been, always will be. He’s had a lot of fun along the way.”
The Adventures of Mittens, by Silvio Bruinsma, is available in stores now.
