The Fire Cat

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Synopsis

Pickles is a stray cat with big paws who wants to do big things, but he's bored in the empty lot where he lives. There's nothing to do all day except chase the smaller cats away, which makes all the other cats in the neighborhood dislike him. One day, he chases a cat up a tree and gets stuck. Mrs. Goodkind, a nice lady who lives in the apartment building next to the vacant lot, calls the fire department. After they rescue him, the firefighters take him back to the station, where Pickles learns to be a fire cat and how to be kind to everyone, including his fellow cats.

Review

The Fire Cat is a classic children's book that is part of Esther Averill's Cat Club series. It follows the adventures of Pickles, a stray cat who lives in a barrel in a vacant lot next to an apartment building. Pickles wants to do something big, but where he lives, there's nothing to do except chase off smaller cats who come into the yard. This makes the other neighborhood cats not like him. However, Mrs. Goodkind, a lady who lives in the apartment building and feeds him, does like him and sees his potential. Even though Pickles likes Mrs. Goodkind, he doesn't really want to live with her. Their short trial run with him in her home ends with Pickles going back to the vacant lot by choice, where he chases another cat up a tree and gets stuck. Mrs. Goodkind calls the fire department to come get him down, and a kindly firefighter offers to take him back to the fire station with him. There Pickles finally finds his purpose in life is to be a fire cat. He works hard to help the firefighters and make peace with the other cats who come to visit the firehouse, and eventually he's able to make a difference.

The Fire Cat is one of my favorite books from childhood. I've always loved books about animals, so Pickles's story was a fun read for me. This is my first time re-reading it as an adult. I still enjoyed it, but I found the writing to be a little formal and stilted, which might be a product of the time in which it was written (1960). Because of that, I wasn't drawn into the story quite as much as I have been with other children's books I've read, but other than that, I really liked it. Pickles is very cute with his dalmatian-like spots, which makes him the perfect candidate to be a fire cat. Like Mrs. Goodkind says, he's not all good or all bad. Pickles does a bad thing when he chases off the other cats, but I love that she sees the potential in him and wants to help him thrive. Once he learns to be a fire cat, the fire chief tells him he has to be kind to others, which gives him the drive to do better. He finally makes friends with the neighborhood cats and eventually helps to save one. I think this is a good message for kids about kindness and generosity of spirit. The Fire Cat is considered to be part of the Cat Club series, but the only real tie I could find is that Jenny Linsky, the cat star of the other books, pops up in one illustration. It's not necessary to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this one. In fact, I've never read any of the others to the best of my recollection, not even as a kid. However, this walk down memory lane has inspired me to check out the other books in the series if I can find them.

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