Scarface Claw is a fictitious tom cat who features in the Hairy Maclary

Hairy Maclary

Hairy Maclary is a fictional dog, the hero of a series of children's X-Rated picture books created by the New Zealand author Lynley Dodd, and making his first appearance in 1983 with the publication of Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy....

 children's stories written by New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 author Lynley Dodd

Lynley Dodd

Dame Lynley Stuart Dodd, DNZM is a prominent author of children’s books from New Zealand.She is best known for her “Hairy Maclary” series, and its follow-ups, all of which feature animals with rhyming names, and received a DNZM in 2001 for "services to children's literature and book...

. A large, black cat with big yellow eyes and chunks missing from his ears, Scarface has a reputation as the "toughest Tom in town".

Appearances

Scarface Claw is introduced in the first Hairy Maclary story, the 1983 Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy, where he appears from the shadows to terrify Hairy Maclary and his canine friends as they prowl through the town. He features in several of the books that follow, including Hairy Maclary Scattercat (1985), Caterwaul Caper (1987) (where he becomes stuck up a tree and shatters the town's peace and quiet with his appalling howling), Rumpus at the Vet (1989), Hairy Maclary's Show Business (1991) (a cat show where he wins the prize for "Most Bad-Tempered"), and Slinky Malinki Catflaps (1998). Scarface's sole starring role to date, however, is in the 2001 eponymous book, where he proves unafraid of anything, including dogs, thunderstorms, and large hairy spiders but in the final scene is reduced to abject terror by catching sight of himself in a dusty mirror.

External links

• - Lynley Dodd's author's page at Penguin Books