“Once upon a time, there was a little girl in first grade who loved cats. Her parents would not let her have a cat, so she had to use her imagination …”

That’s the beginning of the story of how “The Little Cat and the Big Adventure,” a picture book by Madison Elementary School student Evie Wallace, came to be.

Evie, the daughter of Rachel and Tavarski Wallace, was in first grade when she decided she wanted a cat. Her mom and dad said no, so she started bringing home drawings of cats from school — but not just any cats. Her cats were climbing rocks, polevaulting, playing basketball, doing gymnastics. One was a doctor. Another was a water bottle.

“She’s always had a big imagination and she’s always loved books,” Evie’s mom said. Her parents started looking forward to the daily drawings and, when she got home from school, would ask “What is your cat doing today?”

Inspired to turn those inventive drawings into something bigger, the family found an illustrator to turn Evie’s pictures into a book, staying true to the spirit of the originals. Evie planned out the order of the 34 drawings and decided if the final illustrations matched what she wanted to convey.

“She really made all the decisions for the book,” her dad said.

“The Little Cat and the Big Adventure” is available on Amazon.