The sky is reddening and there is the smell of smoke in the air as a family prepares to evacuate their farm. They pack their treasures into the car. But where is Dozer, the family cat? They call but he doesn’t appear. They pack their passports, clothes and pillows. “Dozer! Dozer!” they call, but there is still no sign of him.

The chickens are rounded up and the sheep trailered, but where is Dozer? Finally they have to leave without their beloved puss.

While the family called, Dozer was busy stalking, playing and sleeping. As he wakes, the sky is dark red and filled with smoke. He flees the fire that burns so close, and the sirens that wail around him. When all that is left is black grass and smoking trees, he returns home to find it empty. Where are his family?

Based on true events in the Nelson (NZ) fires of 2019, Dozer the Fire Cat captures the rising anxiety and then fear of an approaching fire to a family farm. On top of this there is the family’s realisation that they have to leave their beloved cat behind.

The contrast between the family and Dozer is beautifully portrayed in Jenny Cooper’s illustrations of a long-haired tabby cat enjoying stalking, pouncing, washing and sleeping, totally oblivious to the danger and his family’s distress. He wakes to a firey world almost surrounding him, providing an exciting climax as he flees. But soon all is well, when his worried family returns.

Author – Robyn Prokop

Illustrator – Jenny Cooper

Picture Book

(2020, Scholastic NZ, Fire, Bush fire, Cat, Animal, Pet, Evacuate, Left behind, Anxiety, Worry, NZ, New Zealand, Nelson Bush fires, Based on a true story)