Create your own cat mask to your own design. Rainbow tabby? Yellow and green tortoiseshell? Why not. Just print the below (setting the printer to fill an entire A4 page with the image). Then fix elastic (or just a paper strip) to the back to hold it in place.
Make your own fluttery butterfly cat toy
Make your own fluttery butterfly that Tinka would LOVE. Printable image below (print as A4 size).
(I’ve fixed this butterfly to a large paddle pop stick with clear elastic… and then wound that elastic up around the stick so it fitted in the frame of the photo! But the longer the elastic or string, the more you can make the butterfly flap around.)
'Have You Got a Minute: Meet the Creator' with Cassy Polimeni
My writing pal Cassy (author of the wonderful Ella and the Frogs junior fiction series and the stunning picture book The Garden at the End of the World) also creates a Substack newsletter that’s well worth subscribing to, if you’re interesting in creativity, writing for kids and the business of authoring. She kindly asked if I’d like to be part of her Meet the Creator series - and here’s the result! (feat. my cat too, of course!)
A TRUCK CAT trailer VIDEO
If you’re wondering what The Truck Cat is all about, here’s a 30-second intro.
It’s a trailer I made back in 2024, ahead of the book’s release.
Side note: I kind of find the whole idea of book trailers funny when you’re talking about picture books, because sometimes the trailer itself can be longer than the actual book… but I do love making videos. It was an interesting exercise to try to sum up the book using a different format..
The Truck Cat - resources and more
A few people have asked me where they can find resources for The Truck Cat, so below I’ve added a bunch of links that might be useful. I’ll add more as I become aware of them!
Meanwhile, please enjoy this photo of my cat grudgingly being co-opted into a promotional role.
‘Go away, I’m reading!’
National Simultaneous Storytime - Wed 21 May 2025
Hardie Grant’s NSS page
Resources
Teaching notes from Hardie Grant, written by Bec Kavanagh
Reading Australia resource, from the Copyright Agency
Digital Resource by Raff Grasso
Book Club resource (including video Q&A) from Mrs H’s Learning Hub (paid)
Learn from Play resource (paid)
Teaching Books resource (paid)
Education Australia resource (paid)
Q&As
Paperbark Words Q&A with Joy Lawn
Just Kid Lit - Q&A with Gemma Creegan
Reviews
Storylinks review, by Mia Macrossan
Just So Stories review, by Sue Warren
Naturopolis word-search
Download it here (or save the image below):
Need a 100 Days of School dress-up? Use this crown!
If you’re stumped for ideas for a 100th day costume, here’s a quick solve: our cut-out-and-colour 100 Days crown. Just print, decorate, cut and stickytape (or staple) to the correct head circumference - easy!
Just save this image to your desktop, then print on the ‘fit to A4 page’ setting and it should be approximately the correct size.
And most importantly, enjoy the 100th day of school celebrations!!
The Quick Six Interview on The Truck Ca
I chatted with Gemma at the Just Kids Lit blog about The Truck Cat - here’s a bit of the interview below:
Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Deborah Frenkel!
Deborah Frenkel‘s latest picture book ‘The Truck Cat‘ has been receiving rave reviews and was voted Kids Book of the Month by one Melbourne bookshop. Not only does it feature an adorable cat Tinka who was inspired by Deborah’s rescue cat (read more below), but it also touches on important themes such as belonging, home and identity.
Thanks for sharing your gorgeous story, Deborah!
WHO wrote, illustrated and published this book?
The Truck Cat written by Deborah Frenkel, illustrated by Danny Snell and published by Hardie Grant / Bright Light.
WHAT is it about?
It’s a story about cats and humans, immigration and identity, and homes lost and found. All explored through the adventures of Tinka the cat, his human, Yacoub, and their B-double tri-axle truck.
What is your favourite part of this book?
The very last spread! This is in essence a story about love and connection, and the final double page spread sums that up so beautifully, with much warmth and detail into the illustrations. And it’s an ending that might be a bit unexpected, too!
The Truck Cat Q&A with Collins Booksellers
I was lucky to be asked some Q&As about the Truck Cat to feature in Collins’ May Reading Guide. Here it is below (and make sure you check out the current reading guide for up to date recommendations!)
The small, big, true story behind The Truck Cat
The Truck Cat is a story that touches on some big themes: identity and community, loneliness and kindness. But like a lot of big-themed things, it started with something small: a strange cat who kept appearing at our back door, and a throwaway comment from my husband.
It was 2021, and my family didn’t have any pets. Life at home was busy enough as it was: a newly-toddling 1-year-old keen to taste-test the entire world, a 4-year-old with big ideas and emotions, 1.8 full time jobs and a slightly-too-small-house waiting to be renovated. Newsflash to universe: we didn’t have room for more.
But clearly the universe didn’t give a fig. I heard my kids laughing in the back garden one day, and wandered out to discover the huge black and white cat who lived in the house behind us, rolling with glee on the pavers as they patted and cuddled and kissed him. ‘Shoo!’ I yelled. The cat – his name, I recalled dimly, was Tonka - gave me a withering look, and disappeared down the side passage. That was that, I thought.
I thought wrong. The next day, he appeared again – the same deal, with the joyous whoops from my kids, my concerned shooing. But this time he didn’t leave. In the morning, he was still waiting in our back garden. I picked him up in my arms and carried him around the block to the house behind ours, and poured him (the way you can only pour 8kg of cat) over the fence into the shrubbery.
Was that the end of the story? Of course not. A few days later, I was home alone with the toddler. During his nap, I started going crazy. Was that a meow? I looked out the back. No cat. Out the front? No cat. But – yes. Definitely a meow. As my son slept, I realised the meow wasn’t coming from outside. It was coming from below. Under the floorboards. After my son woke and cried and calmed, we hefted boxes and clutter out of the way and lifted the trapdoor to the tiny rock-hewn cellar under our house. And there he was. A bedraggled, bleeding cat, our friendly cat, injured and hiding, hungry HUNGRY after a long time without food. I opened a can of tuna and inspected his wounds while he wolfed it: a torn ear, a giant gash through one eye, a bloody paw. He’d been in a fight. He needed a vet, fast.
So again, I carried the cat around the block to the house where his owner lived, the house where he was meant to live. The lady opened the door.
‘I think he’s been in a fight with some other cat,’ I said.
She looked at me.
‘His eye’s cut. He needs to be taken to the vet,’ I said.
She gave a tight smile. ‘Actually, we were planning to take him to the pound.’
I must have looked confused.
‘He doesn’t like us anymore,’ she explained. ‘That’s why he’s been visiting you. We know he doesn’t like us. So we’ve put down a deposit for a new kitten.’
I took a breath. ‘You don’t want him?’ The cat squirmed in my arms.
‘No.’
‘I guess we’ll adopt him, then,’ I said.
I walked back round the block to our place, cat no longer wriggling but regal in my arms, to break the news to my husband: Tonka now belonged to us. Or maybe, more accurately, we belonged to Tonka.
We were lucky: the vet had one appointment available, for emergencies. And of course, we didn’t have the things you’re meant to have, to safely get an animal in the car. No wire cage. No squishy cat carrier. So we just got in the car, all of us, and my husband drove, and Tonka sat calmly on my lap, moving expertly across to sniff the kids and gaze out the window and generally get the lay of the land. He was a pro. Like he’d done all this before, cruising the arterials of suburbia.
Then my husband laughed at my anxiety over the looseness of the cat – the looseness of the day, really – and pointed out something obvious: Tonka loved being on the road. ‘He’s like a trucker’s cat, or something. Like he’s travelled the whole country.’
His words caught something in me and opened it, like the trapdoor unfolding under our house. ‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Hold on. Let me write that down.’
A short (weird) story in 'Strangely Enough'
In early 2023, I was incandescently thrilled to learn my short story “Cat/Lady” had been selected for publication in Midnight Sun’s Strangely Enough anthology (ed. Gillian Hagenus).
Thrilled, because, honestly, publishing ANYTHING that other people will read and absorb - that’s always thrilling and a little bit miraculous, honestly.
Incandescently so, because it was actually the first complete short story I’d written since - well, maybe high school? Or my very early 20s, at least… at which point for some reason I decided I’d prefer not to try writing AT ALL than to fail at it (a dumb decision, but a sadly pretty common one to make, I think).
Here’s the book, which is available now. It’s full of the most bizarre and thought provoking stories. I’m not sure how mine fluked into deserving a slot, but am honoured to be alongside so many amazing writers.
(And a side note given the kidlit-focus of this website: as an anthology, it’s definitely for adults, though some of these stories would be suitable for teenagers who have a taste for the surreal or macabre.)
Naturopolis on Storybox Library
Storybox Library (dah dah dah dah dah!… as my kids instantly chorus as soon as I mention those words) now has Naturopolis, read by Peter Houghton, in its substantial database. Watch here.
Ps. If you have a library card, chances are you have access to Storybox Library! See if your local library is listed under the ‘Libraries’ tab when logging in.
EASY BOOK WEEK COSTUME IDEAS FOR NATUROPOLIS
Not everyone’s great (yet!) at making costumes. (I’m talking about myself here. My costume skills are currently non-existent). So if you’re a bit like me, here are some super easy, maybe even last minute book week costume ideas!
Talking success (and failure) at the CYA conference
A quick virtual chat about my path to publishing ‘success’ (impostor syndrome inverted commas necessary!) at the CYA conference 2023. Thanks for having me Tina!
Watch the video here (alongside some amazing and inspiring stories from other writers and illustrators) : https://www.cyaconference.com/videos?wix-vod-video-id=38bbe6b15fec46c493db87da28a39f07&wix-vod-comp-id=comp-jmn93men
The Sydney Harbour Fairy & The Garden at the End of the World, on the Words and Nerds podcast
A podcast chat about The Sydney Harbour Fairy alongside another (and side note: ah-mazing!) new picture book, The Garden at the End of the World, with its author (and a writing friend) Cassy Polimeni. With thanks to Dani Vee’s Words and Nerds. Episode page
Living Arts Canberra review of (and chat about) Naturopolis
Reading with a Chance of Tacos podcast - Naturopolis
Listen to my chat with Aussie kidlit icon Ken about Naturopolis (and tacos too, of course). Episode page
Naturopolis resources from Readilearn
The wonderful Norah from Readilearn has put together some excellent teaching resources for Naturopolis - including a Q&A and ready-to-print author spotlight.
Naturopolis teachers' notes
Download teaching notes for Naturopolis here.
