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  • Published: 7 May 2019
  • ISBN: 9780143773085
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00

The Cat from Muzzle



Over mountains and across rivers, this delightful true story traces a high-country cat’s epic, five-week journey home to New Zealand’s most remote station.

Dwayne is a rumble-tumble tabby cat who knows where he belongs — up on the farm at Muzzle Station.

So, when he’s taken to live far away in the town of Kaikoura, what’s a cat to do? Shake the dust off his paws and start walking, of course!

The trouble is, home is a very long way away . . .

With a bouncy readaloud story by Sally Sutton and witty illustrations by Scott Tulloch, The Cat From Muzzle is a true tale of feline audacity that will delight readers the world over.

  • Published: 7 May 2019
  • ISBN: 9780143773085
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00

About the authors

Scott Tulloch

Scott Tulloch lives in Wanaka, New Zealand and is a prolific creator of humorous picture books. He is a highly popular speaker, tutor and storyteller at schools, where he engages students and teachers alike with his mad sense of fun. He creates his illustrations by hand using pencil, pen and watercolour and gouache.

Sally Sutton

Aucklander Sally Sutton has been writing picture books, children's novels and plays for two decades. Her stories are celebrated for being 'busy with joy, and colour, and words that boing off the page' (The Spinoff) - making reading her stories a magical moment between parent and child. Sally has been awarded several Storylines Notable Book Awards for her work, and in 2009 she and illustrator Brian Lovelock won the Picture Book category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for Roadworks. Her 2018 story about a cat's amazing true journey, The Cat from Muzzle (illustrated by Scott Tulloch), was a bestseller.

Read more about Sally at www.sallysutton.co.nz

Praise for The Cat from Muzzle

Miss 7 said; "Is this for real mum? Is this true life, for real, actually a real cat in this world?" When children's books often focus on fantasy and make believe, it can be hard for small minds to get their head around the fact that some fantastical stories are. in fact, real. My seven-year-old had two visits from the tooth fairy last week, so her grasp of what's real and what's fiction is in that innocent child phase-but with a few emerging doubts. So, to explain that Dwayne was "true life, real and not pretend" made this book pretty special.

Emma C Nyn Ham, Wanaka Sun

This is a fabulous new read-aloud tale for families to enjoy from New Zealand author Sally Sutton and vibrant artwork from Scott Tulloch. Somehow I think this is going to become a family favourite and we all love a courageous, plucky cat on an adventure!

Sue's Reviews, Wairarapa Times-Age

This is an enjoyable story about an adventurous cat that I know kids will love. Dwayne is the star of this story and kids will be rooting for him the whole way. Much like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, he is a big cat with a big heart. Scott Tulloch shows us both the tough and the cuddly side of Dwayne in his characteristic illustrations. I particularly love Dwayne’s expression on the last page. I also love the way that Sally Sutton uses a repeated phrase to show you what is driving Dwayne to keep going.

Zac McCallum, The Sapling

This is a charming story made even more appealing by the fact that it is based in reality as is noted in the back of the book...beautifully illustrated throughout with expressive, colourful double page illustrations...I would highly recommend this book to parents of pre-schoolers and older.

Anabel McPhee, School Librarian, The Catlins Area School, School Library Review, New Zealand Book Council

It's a heartland New Zealand tale full of relatable scenes, flora and fauna that will delight young readers.

Dionne Christian and Zoe Gadd, Weekend Herald

This true story of a high-country cat that refuses to be relocated to town combines pictures, rhyming text, a good refrain and wacky, warm images of the mostly very bedraggled moggy that crossed a mountain range and mighty river to get home.

Ann Packer, NZ Listener Best Children's Books 2019