Words & Pictures

Mac Barnett & Shawn Harris

In the fourth installment of Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris’s New York Times-bestselling series our heroes—First Cat, LOZ 4000, and the Moon Queen—encounter Captain Babybeard and his crew of swashbuckling pirates.

After Captain Babybeard steals a treasure map from the Queen of the Moon, the notorious pirate sees nothing but piles of gold in his future. But a mutiny, led by his first mate, the Martian Pirate James Plantain, leaves Babybeard marooned on a deserted island. Betrayed by his crew, the little captain seeks an unlikely alliance…

Will Captain Babybeard get revenge? Will First Cat, the Moon Queen, and LOZ 4000 recover their treasure map? Or will the moon fall into the hands of a nefarious banana?

Mac Barnett is the 2025–26 Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a New York Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than thirty languages. His picture books include two Caldecott Honor–winning collaborations with Jon Klassen: Sam & Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn. Among his other popular books are I Love You Like a Pig, illustrated by Greg Pizzoli, and The Magic Word, illustrated by Elise Parsley. He lives in Oakland, California. You can visit him online at macbarnett.com.

Shawn Harris’s first illustrated book, Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, received seven starred reviews, was an Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book, an ALA Notable, and a PW Best Book of the Year. His other picture books include Eggers’s What Can a Citizen Do, which was a Time Magazine Best Children’s Book, Everyone’s Awake by Colin Meloy, A Polar Bear in the Snowby Mac Barnett, and his own author-illustrated works Have You Ever Seen a Flower? and Doing Business. Harris also occasionally moonlights as singer-songwriter of the popular Oakland, California, band the Matches, whose early 2000s album art sparked his illustration career.

BOOKS

Copies of The First Cat in Space and the Baby Pirate’s Revenge  are available to pre-order, and other titles by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris are available for purchase at City of Asylum Bookstore.

Partner

Words & Pictures is presented with support from EQT Foundation, The Grable Foundation, and PNC Charitable Trusts

WHEN

Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. ET

TICKETS

Free
Cost shouldn’t be a barrier to a lifetime love of reading. Your donation supports Words & Pictures presentations and Authors to Schools visits.
REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSONREGISTER TO WATCH ONLINE
The video link for the livestreamed event will be emailed to all registrants on the day of the lecture. The captioned video will be available to view for one week, expiring on November 13, 2025.

TEACHERS

Interested in having your classroom attend the lecture or participate in Authors to Schools? Fill out the form below!
INTEREST FORM

WHERE

Carnegie Library Lecture Hall
4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, 15213

SHARE THIS EVENT

Upcoming Lectures

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Sep 3

Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas

Sep 18

Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter

Aug 12

Jill Lepore

Jill Lepore

Sep 15