At 6am on the 31st December 2019 in the midst of the Black Summer bushfires, Michelle Hamrosi’s family, along with hundreds of other local families received a message from the Rural Fire Service - If you have a plan to leave, you should leave now.
Michelle’s family didn’t have a plan, but like many other families, they did have to leave their home.
Michelle’s experience of being unprepared and having to leave her home with 3 small children (aged 1, 5 and 6) sparked a journey over many years to understanding what helps families with young children in times of emergencies and evacuation.
Michelle shares with us how she transformed this experience and research from her community into an empowering resource to help other families be prepared.
Listen to Michelle share her story here -
Read Michelle's reflections on creating Charlie's Birthday Adventure
In June 2024, I was halfway across the Nullarbor on a family adventure to WA, car packed to the roof, kids in the back, when an idea landed that refused to let go. For the previous two years, I had been working with the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) Community Protection for Infants and Young Children bushfire project, based in my region, the Eurobodalla. We had been badly impacted by the 2019–20 bushfires, and I was determined to turn that experience into something positive.
I had spent those two years listening to families describe harrowing evacuations with young children, ruined birthday plans, feeding babies on the move, checking on neighbours, bundling pets into cars. Our team was working to turn those experiences into resources that would help future families prepare. But I kept feeling that something was missing. There were no resources aimed directly at young children.
I kept that idea in the back of my mind until finally, under the endless expanse of the Nullarbor plain stretching out before me, I had the space to breathe, to unwind, and to be creative. The story of Charlie's Birthday Adventure wrote itself. It weaves many of those real experiences into a single gentle adventure, a book that helps explain why we sometimes have to leave in an emergency, while landing softly enough for little hearts.
The story was developed through extensive community consultation, with input from child therapists, trauma psychologists, librarians, published authors, preschool teachers, and parents. The feedback has been heart warming; my eight year old daughter, who was just one when we had to evacuate our home during the bushfires, has been one of the book's greatest advocates saying:
"I love how there's a problem that turns into an adventure, and there are so many helpers keeping Charlie safe."
The book is brought to life through the warm and beautiful illustrations of Courteney Tooth, a Moruya-based artist and local mother of two. Her daughter was so taken with Charlie's story that she packed her own adventure bag and keeps it under her bed. If that's not the best measure of a book's impact, I don't know what is!
Why a book?
Something I've observed at preparedness events is that parents often pick up resources with the best intentions, but they get lost in the chaos of daily life (I include myself in that!). A book is different. When a child engages with a story, they become the conduit to the parent. The message reaches grown-ups through the child, through play, pictures and calm, safe language, helping to normalise conversations about preparedness alongside the practical resources at the back of the book.
Michelle pictured here with Charlie's Birthday Adventure Illustrator Courtney Tooth
An invitation to experience Charlie's Birthday Adventure
Charlie’s Birthday Adventure is now available as a digital resource via Parents for Climate - we’d love to see this shared far and wide to benefit as a many families as possible. In addition to Charlie's story, the book contains practical steps, links to resources, and guidance on helping children recover after a traumatic event. A kids activity booklet is also available to download.
A big take-away from Michelle's story is: don’t assume it won’t happen to you.
Join us during the Ready. Set. Prepared month of action and take steps towards your family having an emergency plan and being prepared this summer. Find out more here.
About Dr Michelle Hamrosi
Michelle is a GP and lactation consultant based in the Eurobodalla, and the Group Leader of the ABA Eurobodalla Group. She served as ABA Community Engagement Officer from 2022–2025, working on community protection for infants and young children in bushfire emergencies, which directly informed the creation of this book. Michelle is also a clinical lecturer with the ANU Rural Clinical School and is an advocate with Doctors for the Environment Australia. She is a mother of three fast growing up children and a passionate voice for community health, preparedness and the wellbeing of young families. When enjoying a day off she loves pottering in her garden with her chickens, growing shiitake mushrooms and playing piano.