Project Description:  The Calamity Cats and Disaster Dogs series would be a comprehensive disaster education program which would include books, activity books, teaching guides and an interactive website with games, character blogs, videos and more.  Designed for use both at home and school, the purpose of the series would be to teach kids and ultimately their parents how to: prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. 

Premise:  The Calamity Cats and Disaster Dogs live in Springfield, USA.  The parents of the Calamity Cats are Chad and Cassie, small business owners to don’t know what to do if disaster strikes.  Their children, sometimes mischievous, are in danger of using up their nine lives as a result of the many calamities which seem to find them.  Fortunately, their neighbors, the Disaster Dogs, are well prepared and happy to help in tight situations.  Devin and Delia Disaster are a local firefighter and nurse and their children, Dustin and Dawn are friends of the Calamitys.

Characters:

Chad & Cassie Calamity: Parents of the Calamity Cats, and owners of “Tuna on Toast,” a local sandwich shop

Clarence: age 12

Clarissa: age 10

Carl: age 8, the most mischievous, often disobeying instructions

Calvin: age 6

Claudia: age 4

Max: A pet mouse the Calamity Cats need to ensure the safety of in times of disaster

Devin: a local firefighter

Delia: a local nurse

Dustin: age 9, wise for his age about preparedness tips which are useful in everyday life

Dawn: age 7

Davis: Delia’s brother, responsible for Urban Search and Rescue

The Stories:  Each book in the series covers a different type of disaster which might befall the town.  These could include but are not limited to: fire, thunderstorm, flood, hurricane, earthquake, heat wave, tornado, wild fire, landslide, and nuclear emergency.

The Messages:   The series will leverage existing guidance from the Red Cross and FEMA on emergency preparedness.  However, the series will choose to focus on preparedness tips which are the most practical to adopt in everyday life and messages to remember when disaster strikes.