Established in 2021 by author Cleo Le-Tan, Pillow-Cat Books is the first and only animal-themed bookstore in New York City. Located in the charming East Village, the chartreuse interior is filled with a variety of used and rare books, new books and children's books, foreign-language books, photography and art books, and comics all sharing one common denominator, that an animal or animal character must be present.

Cleo Le-Tan is a member of the illustrious Le-Tan family that includes famed illustrator Pierre Le-Tan, her father who collaborated on her book, A Booklover's Guide to New York and her sister, designer Olympia Le-Tan.

"We offer a fun and interesting selection of books (used books, rare books, new books of absolutely all genres and eras) and we organize them by animal. The only prerequisite for a book to be sold in our shop is that it has to have an animal in it."

Is there a story behind the shop name, Pillow-Cat Books? I had written a few of Pillow Cat’s adventures, I hope she will become a popular and beloved species / character for children and adults! She is a pillow shaped cat / a cat shaped pillow — one of those formations we used to make as a child with elastics or ribbons around the corners of our pillow to create a face with ears. I came up with some of her mischievous adventures and then my sister Olympia drew her for the shop, and hopefully our series of books.

What are Pillow-Cat Books best-selling and “must-have”products? Well people love our Snoopy section: it has everything spanning from 1960s first editions to comics and gift books that are still in print today. Amazingly beautiful and out of the ordinary Japanese Playboys from the 60s with naked women and collages in the shape of animals. Rare cat photo books (often with cats in cute outfits) from the 80s or modern day Japan and some others from 1930s America. And of course, all of our PCB goodies (tees, totes, hats, stickers etc), which are only sold in our shop or our website (and another shop in Tokyo actually).

What inspired you to open your shop? I wrote a book  about bookshops, libraries and literary landmarks in NY ( A Booklover’s Guide to New York , 2019). For the book, I interviewed all sorts of fascinating characters, and among them, several booksellers. They were so wonderful that I decided I wanted to be them. They inspired and continue to inspire me.

Who inspires you? Older booksellers or collectors I know who are kind enough to teach me the tricks of the trade and who I feel there is always so much to learn from.

What did you do before opening Pillow-Cat Books? I was a writer. Hopefully I still am!

Favorite shops

• Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, a friend and neighbour (a must visit actually!).

• The Mysterious Bookshop

• Dashwood Books

• The East Village Meat Market around the corner from Pillow-Cat,

• anme and Jane my next door neighbours,

• March Hare across the street as well as Fabulous Fannies—9th street is very good for independent and cute shops!

• Galignani and L’Ecume des Pages in Paris

• Daunt Books in London.

"I feel and hope that after so much internet shopping and an era and a few decades of over consumption, people are coming back to their roots and shopping in a more conscientious and old-fashioned way, appreciating what they already have and being careful about what they buy."