Bookspeed - TALE OF THE CASTLE MICE (PB)

The Earl’s Castle is home to a magnificent doll’s house, and inside lives a family of mice. Mr and Mrs Perk and their thirteen children live happily together and work hard to maintain their splendid home.

But one day their beloved doll’s house is taken away… Full of humour and warmth, this nostalgic tale by Michael Bond, the author of Paddington Bear, is brought to life with exquisite detail by Emily Sutton.

This riches to rags to riches again story is utterly charming. Mr and Mrs Mice and their thirteen children live happily in a dolls’ house in a grand castle; apart from having one wall missing, their house is rather grand too, with plenty of room for them all. In Emily Sutton’s gorgeous illustrations their home is full of little details that will fascinate young readers; not since Beatrix Potter either, have mice looked so fine, and yet so very mouse-like, in smart hats and coats. The adventure unfolds perfectly over the length of the book as the mice lose their home, but happily regain it, and there’s a lovely rhythm to the story, told with such apparent ease and so much skill by Michael Bond. A treat! - Andrea Reece