Kitty Thomas Popular Books

Kitty Thomas Biography & Facts

Hello Kitty (Japanese: ハロー・キティ, Hepburn: Harō Kiti), also known by her real name Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト, Kiti Howaito), is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. According to her backstory, she lives in a London suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow.Hello Kitty was created in 1974 and the first item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in 1975. Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards pre-teenage girls, but beginning in the 1990s, the brand found commercial success among teenage and adult consumers as well. Hello Kitty's popularity also grew with the emergence of kawaii (cute) culture. The brand went into decline in Japan after the 1990s, but continued to grow in the international market. By 2010 the character was worth $5 billion a year and The New York Times called her a "global marketing phenomenon." By 2014, when Hello Kitty was 40 years old, she was worth about $8 billion a year.UNICEF has appointed Hello Kitty children's ambassador and the Japanese government appointed her ambassador of tourism. There are Sanrio theme parks based on Hello Kitty: Harmonyland in Hiji, Ōita, Japan, Sanrio Puroland in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan, and Hello Kitty Shanghai Times in Shanghai, China. The Hello Kitty media franchise has grown to include a number of animated series targeted towards children, as well as several comics, animated films, video games, books, music albums and other media productions. A variety of products have featured the character over the years, like school supplies, clothing, accessories, and toys, along with other items. In 2008, there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty branded products. Creation and design In 1962, Shintaro Tsuji, founder of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974.Hello Kitty was initially known only as "the white kitten with no name" (名前のない白い子猫). Shimizu got the name Kitty from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass; during a scene early in the book, Alice plays with a cat she calls Kitty. Sanrio's motto is "social communication," and Tsuji wanted the brand name to reflect that by including a greeting. He first considered "Hi Kitty" before finally settling on "Hello Kitty," her current name. Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British because foreign countries, in particular Britain, were trendy in Japan at the time of Hello Kitty's creation. Sanrio already had several characters set in the US, and it wanted Hello Kitty to be different.In 1976 Setsuko Yonekubo temporarily took over as lead designer for Hello Kitty, after Shimizu left Sanrio. In 1980 Yuko Yamaguchi became lead designer and has remained in charge since. Yamaguchi has said that fashion, movies, and TV inspire her in creating new designs. New series involving Hello Kitty with different themed designs are released regularly, following current trends.Spokespeople for Sanrio have said that Hello Kitty has no mouth, as they want people to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." Another explanation Sanrio has given for Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth is that she "speaks from the heart. She's Sanrio's ambassador to the world and isn't bound to any particular language." However, Yuko Yamaguchi has also said that "Kitty has a mouth" that is "hidden in the fur". Representatives for Sanrio have said that they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, which they hope she will foster between people across the world. There has been speculation that Hello Kitty has her origins in Maneki Neko, a traditional Japanese cat figurine. The name "Hello Kitty" is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, meaning "beckoning cat" in English. Despite this, no definitive statement supports that speculation. Hello Kitty has also instead been put forth as an early example of mukokuseki, a Japanese term meaning "stateless" or "nationless" in reference to characters lacking any identifiable national background. History and reception The character's first appearance on an item was in March 1975 on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan, where she was pictured sitting between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl. She first appeared in the United States in 1976 when Sanrio opened a Gift Gate store in San Jose, California.Hello Kitty sold well immediately after her 1975 launch, and Sanrio's sales increased sevenfold. Due to Japan's growing economy, many Japanese children could afford to buy Hello Kitty products. Her popularity also grew with the emergence of kawaii culture, which embraces cuteness.UNICEF named Hello Kitty as children's ambassador to the United States in 1983, children's ambassador in Japan in 1994, and gave her the title of UNICEF Special Friend of Children in 2004, a title unique to her.Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards a child and preteen audience. In the 1990s, the target market for Hello Kitty was broadened to include teenagers and adults as a retro brand. Marketing to those who could not get Hello Kitty merchandise as children, and those who fondly remember items they had, Sanrio began selling Hello Kitty branded products such as purses and laptops. The 1994–1996 Face series was the first to be designed specifically for mature consumers.The Hello Kitty brand rose to greater prominence internationally during the late 1990s. At that time, several celebrities, such as Mariah Carey, had adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement. New products featuring the character were made available in a large variety of American department stores. Hello Kitty's popularity in Japan peaked in the late 1990s when she was the country's top-grossing character. In 2002, Hello Kitty lost her place as the top-grossing character in Japan in the Character Databank popularity chart. In a 2010 survey, she was in third place behind Anpanman and Pikachu from Pokémon. In 2010, The New York Times attributed the character's relative decline in Japan to her biography not being "compelling enough to draw many fans." The newspaper later wrote that analysts called the characterization "weak," and that Hello Kitty not having a mouth has dampened her success as an animated TV character. According to Character Databank, Hello Kitty was the third highest-grossing character in Japan as of 2013. In 2019 and 2020, Character Databank ranked her fifth, and as of 2021 she was out of the top five.Overseas, her global popularity has increased over the years. According to Sanrio, Hello Kitty was appearing on 12,000 new products each year as of 1999. Beginning i.... Discover the Kitty Thomas popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Kitty Thomas books.

Best Seller Kitty Thomas Books of 2024

  • Best Wishes synopsis, comments

    Best Wishes

    Richard Glover

    Making the world a better, less annoying place one wish at a time.LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDSLONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR'I wish I c...

  • Wycliffe and the Dunes Mystery synopsis, comments

    Wycliffe and the Dunes Mystery

    W.J. Burley

    A highprofile murder investigation for Wycliffe, in Cornwall's heartland.Cochran Wilder disappeared fifteen years ago while on a walking holiday in Cornwall. Recently released from...

  • The Other Side Of Paradise synopsis, comments

    The Other Side Of Paradise

    Margaret Mayhew

    Fans of Katie Flynn, Rosamunde Pilcher and Dinah Jeffries will love this emotional and sweeping wartime romance set in Singapore from bestselling author Margaret Mayhew.READERS ARE...

  • Spring Comes to Emmerdale synopsis, comments

    Spring Comes to Emmerdale

    Pamela Bell

    THE PERFECT GIFT FOR MOTHER'S DAYSpring Comes to Emmerdale is a must for fans of ITV's Emmerdale, and readers who love heartwarming and heartbreaking stories set during wartime, al...

  • Wycliffe and the Guilt-Edged Alibi synopsis, comments

    Wycliffe and the Guilt-Edged Alibi

    W.J. Burley

    A family feud leads to murder and Superintendent Wycliffe is on the case...Caroline Bryce came from the top of the social register in the tranquil town of Treen. So it was quite a...

  • The Little Ship synopsis, comments

    The Little Ship

    Margaret Mayhew

    From bestselling author Margaret Mayhew, an emotional and gripping wartime saga, full of the tension and adventure of World War Two. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn, Donna Douglas ...

  • The Royal Show synopsis, comments

    The Royal Show

    Anton du Beke

    By Royal invitation, join us to celebrate The Royal Show!Prodigal son and loyal daughter...The Forsyth Variety Company has been given the opportunity of a lifetime to entertain He...

  • Ms Behaviour synopsis, comments

    Ms Behaviour

    Mini Lee

    Santa is a university student with a wonderful new boyfriend and bright future. However, she's also a bad girl with a wild streak who cultivates an illicit and obsessive reationsh...

  • The Railway Cat synopsis, comments

    The Railway Cat

    Philip Ardagh & Rob Biddulph

    A funny and charming NEW young fiction series from Philip Ardagh, bestselling author of The Grunts series and Eddie Dickens adventures, and illustrated by Rob Biddulph, awardw...

  • Hope Comes to Emmerdale synopsis, comments

    Hope Comes to Emmerdale

    Kerry Bell

    The perfect Mother's Day gift full of nostalgia and warmth, for fans of ITV's Emmerdale and readers who love heartwrenching stories set during wartime.World War II wages on. Ration...

  • The Ballroom Blitz synopsis, comments

    The Ballroom Blitz

    Anton du Beke

    The stunning new Buckingham novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Anton Du Beke.September 1940. As the skies split apart and bombs rain down on London, it's all the staff at t...

  • A Room on the Route synopsis, comments

    A Room on the Route

    Godfrey Blunden

    This is the story of lives under the constant scrutiny of the N.K.V.D.Here is a monumental novel that shows how the fantastic Communist willtopower has led to the enslavement of th...

  • Narrowing the Field synopsis, comments

    Narrowing the Field

    A.P. McCoy

    MURDER, RIVALRY AND REVENGE...'Fast paced and unbeatable.' The LadyEverything seems to be going right for brilliant young jockey Duncan Claymore. A career on the up, a beautiful wi...

  • The Chocolate Box Girls at War synopsis, comments

    The Chocolate Box Girls at War

    Gracie Hart

    Preorder the second book in The Chocolate Box Girls series now! York, 1940World War Two has arrived for the girls of the Rowntrees factory, and with rationing crippling the country...

  • The Boss synopsis, comments

    The Boss

    Monica Belle

    Felicity is a girl with two different sides to her character, each leading two very separate lives. There's Fizz wild child, drummer in a retro punk band, and car thief. And then...

  • Charco Harbour synopsis, comments

    Charco Harbour

    Godfrey Blunden

    The story of the legendary Captain James Cook.It is 1768. War has broken out in Europe and the British Admiralty wants a base in the Western Pacific.So Captain James Cook and a com...

  • Tom, Ned and Kitty synopsis, comments

    Tom, Ned and Kitty

    Eliza Pakenham

    'I am standing in the dining room of my father's house in Ireland, gazing up at ten Pakenham family portraits. What thoughts went on behind those passive, chalky faces? How can I b...

  • Underworld synopsis, comments

    Underworld

    Maria Del Rey

    Behind a facade of professional respectability, a certain group of wealthy individuals is playing some very adult games. Games of master and servant where willing submissive suffe...

  • Wycliffe and Death in a Salubrious Place synopsis, comments

    Wycliffe and Death in a Salubrious Place

    W.J. Burley

    On the beautiful, tranquil Scilly Isles, a brutal murder is uncovered...There was no doubt at all that the girl was dead. The front of her skull and her facial bones had been splin...

  • Daniel Deronda synopsis, comments

    Daniel Deronda

    George Eliot

    With an essay by Barbara Hardy.'What can I do? ... I must get up in the morning and do what every one else does. It is all like a dance set beforehand. I seem to see all that can b...

  • Training of an English Gentleman synopsis, comments

    Training of an English Gentleman

    Yolanda Celbridge

    Innocent Roger is embroiled in a world of lustful secrets. His voyeuristic host and his wife, their daughter and their maid all conspire to humiliate him by imposing severe corpora...

  • Battlefield 4 synopsis, comments

    Battlefield 4

    Peter Grimsdale

    The explosive, actionpacked prequel to EA's megaselling video game, BATTLEFIELD 4.It's 3am and 20 below zero on the ChineseNorth Korean border. Shanghaibased CIA operative Laszlo K...

  • The Chocolate Box Girls synopsis, comments

    The Chocolate Box Girls

    Gracie Hart

    Rowntrees Factory, York 1936The aroma of chocolate was as familiar to Molly Freeman as the nose on her face. Living and schooling on Haxby Road alongside the Rowntrees Chocolate Fa...

  • A French Affair synopsis, comments

    A French Affair

    Susan Lewis

    Some secrets are too devastating to be told...When Natalie Moore is killed in a freak accident in France her mother the very poised and elegant Jessica knows instinctively there ...

  • The Looking-Glass Conference synopsis, comments

    The Looking-Glass Conference

    Godfrey Blunden

    A brilliantly funny satire on modern diplomacy.The Far Eastern republic of Inevitable Khaos is at war with the repulic of Incredible Khaos and an international conference is gather...

  • Emmerdale at War synopsis, comments

    Emmerdale at War

    Pamela Bell

    The perfect Christmas gift full of warmth and nostalgia, for fans of ITV's Emmerdale, and readers who love heartwarming and heartbreaking stories set during World War II.Britain is...

  • Serial synopsis, comments

    Serial

    Jim Lusby

    'This is the real Ireland, where pleasure and pain are inextricably linked' Val McDermidA brilliant breakthrough crime novel from one of the most respected names in the business......

  • Taking the Fall synopsis, comments

    Taking the Fall

    A.P. McCoy

    From champion jockey A.P. McCoy comes a tense and utterly gripping racing thriller.Duncan Claymore could have it all. He's one of the country's up and coming young jockeys and this...