Adopting a red and white cat at the Warwick Animal Shelter 13 years ago, Warwick resident Deb Das never imagined she would one day publish a children’s book about him. Behaving differently than any other cat she had previously owned, Das felt the world needed to know the life of Jack.

“It was a labor of love for me. I never would have thought I’d write a book,” Das said in an interview. “Because Jack’s a character, I saw him doing things I’ve never seen a cat do before.”

When Das went into the shelter, Jack was climbing the bars of the cage. Das said, “I told the officer, ‘I want that one.’” From that moment on, Jack’s endless adventures would set him apart.

Battling cancer at the time she got Jack, Das was able to spend much more time with him than she did with any previous cats. She was more in tune with everything Jack did.

“It was surprising he brought another cat home,” Das said.

Jack came home one day with a male gray cat in tow. Das began feeding it and eventually took him to the vet, giving him a permanent home. Das named him Hank.

Das later discovered Hank had been abandoned when some neighbors moved, leaving him homeless. Distant neighbors of Das discovered Hank and began feeding him every day before he found his way to Jack.

One example of Jack’s countless adventures that is featured in the book is a time he stole a ribbon from two girls. Das saw two girls standing in her lawn and asked what was the matter? Jack had seen them playing with a ribbon, stole it and ran off. After splitting up and eventually finding Jack, Das told the girls, “He thought you were playing, that’s why he took it.”

A kitten that Das would later adopt, Max, also had some memorable experiences that are in “Jack.” Wondering why he was going completely crazy one day, Das questioned, “What the hell is wrong with this cat? And I looked up, and there was a bat.”

Jack, Hank and the two kittens, Max and Tiger, are the characters featured in Das’ book. A tale of their endless mischief, Das said it was Jack that was the ultimate reason she wrote the book.

“I wanted it published, I wanted it out there,” Das said, “because of my love for Jack.”

An important feature of the book is the illustrations. Das asked Kristen DiSano, a senior at West Warwick, to draw them. A family friend, Das knew that Kristen had been interested in art her whole life.

“I let her run with it,” Das said. “I didn’t tell her how to draw it.”

Working on the drawings through her sophomore, junior and senior years of high school, Kristen would draw them as Das gave her new portions of the book.

“She’s 50 percent of the book. I wanted to give her full credit,” Das said, placing her name in one corner of the book cover, and Kristen’s in the other. This way, Das said, one was not emphasized more.

“The toughest part was finding out how to get it published,” Das said. Working on “Jack” for years and finally finishing it, finding a publisher was the next step. At a book signing and sales event at Rhode Island College, Das spoke to another author who recommended Stillwater River Publishing. Published this past April, Das worked closely with Kristen in the revision and publication process, making sure everything was just right.

“We were happy to publish it, it’s an adorable story,” said Steve Porter, owner of Stillwater River, with Dawn Porter. The publishing process took about a year in total.

“Deb and her illustrator did a lovely job putting it all together,” Porter said.

Das had 150 copies printed and is selling them for $12 in person and on Amazon. Not intending to make a profit from this, Das will be donating a percentage of the proceeds to various animal shelters in the area.

Though Das is not writing a sequel to “Jack,” she is planning on writing another book. Having been to India on various occasions, Das had many adventures abroad that she would also like to share with the world.

A per diem substitute teacher in the Pawtucket school system, Das used this accomplishment as an example to her students. Taking many years to write and publish “Jack,” Das spoke first hand on the importance of persistence. Whenever a student told her it’s “too hard” or they want to give up, Das would tell the story of her book.

“It took a lot of work,” she said, “but I did it.”

Though Hank has since passed, Jack, Max and Tiger are still causing mischief and creating endless memorable experiences for Das.