Story by GEOFF SWIFT, & Illustrated by JANE CORNWELL;
An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in early reading.
As you all know, Erin is a real cat and, as such, has a love of all things mice – or should that be all things mouse? Not to worry, suffice to say, she prides herself on keeping tabs on the many mice we have here at the Manor. Imagine her surprise then when Mrs H called her into the kitchen yesterday morning with the news that a mouse had arrived by special delivery . . .
"Erin, dear, Tommy the Fieldmouse has arrived. I placed him on the table away from the pies I'm baking." Mrs H gestured to the kitchen table with her flour-covered hands. "Wouldnt do to get it all covered in pastry, now would it?"
"Nice as mice pies and gravy are, Mrs H, I'd really not like it to have a name, let alone be introduced to the, er, filling! That's enough to put me off mice for life. And anyway, I haven't ordered any. Plus, I agreed at the latest Parish Church Mouse liaison committee meeting that as long as they didn't come in, I'd not chase them. Do I need to chat with the vicar again do you think?" Erin asked, scratching thoughtfully behind her ear.
"No, dear, the mouse is in paper form."
"Well, even with one of your nice cheese sauces, I doubt that's going to taste very nice, is it?"
"Oh dear, I think I may have confused you, Erin," Mrs H sighed. Having washed and dried her hands picked up the package. "The mouse is, in fact, that wonderful new book that we saw last month. The artist, JANE CORNWELL, knowing your interest in all things wildlife, kindly sent us a copy of this new release so we could review it on the blog."
"Oh, I see. Those are the kind of mice I like; lots of fun and no need to chase anything." Erin smiled and, having let Mrs H put the cheese and sweet potato pies in the oven, settled down to read this week's STAR book. It is called Tommy the Fieldmouse's Night-Time Adventures. And I can assure you it is both wonderful to read and look at.
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| © Jane Cornwell |
AUTHOR: GEOFF SWIFT
ARTIST THROUGHOUT: JANE CORNWELL
Published by: JC STUDIO PRESS
Publication date: 6 JUNE 2022
Paperback ISBN: 978 - 1 - 7398281 - 5 - 8
RRP: £ 7.45
Pages: 44.
Age range: Middle Grade (6-12 AND upwards)
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to...
We are exceedingly grateful to JANE CORNWELL for agreeing to send a copy of this delightful adventure for our Read & Review.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
Tommy is a fieldmouse on a quest to find his supper. And he knows just where to get it: in a field across the river.
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| © Tommy in search of supper. |
But to get there, he has to run a gauntlet of the river and various predators. Of course, there are friends too. But will they be able to help?
In this fun short early read, we will see Tommy in all manner of places and situations. Getting his supper isn't the problem; staying alive long enough to enjoy it and not being another creature's supper is.
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| © Grant the owl in flight |
So, what did we think?
This is a beautiful and informative adventure for the inquisitive that I know will grab their attention. The story is simple, elegant, and just dramatic enough to give an authentic flavour of what a fieldmouse's life is like, the good and the bad and the downright deadly.
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| © Grant the Owl |
The author has got the balance of fun, fear and fact just right. At the start of the book, we have information about 'Grain crops'. The book concludes with a set of fun facts for each of the main animals in the story.
The artwork throughout this tale is stunning! There are full-page or half-page images on nearly every page. The expression of the creatures involved in the story is both accurate and dynamic but never harsh.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Whilst not long, it has so much to offer. Do not hesitate to buy this for the young reader.
Geoff Swift has written many books for the young reader, and Jane has brought the stories alive visually for him. It is clearly a partnership that inspires each other. If this book appeals and you wish to see more about both author and artist/illustrator, please do follow the links below to their respective websites.
Now, one lucky reader of this blog will receive a free copy of this book. All you have to do is leave a comment below. A winner will be picked randomly from Mrs H's hat on Friday morning next week. So only comments up to midnight Thursday 4 August 2022, UK time, will be included. The winner will be notified by a reply posted by me against their comment. They must also be prepared to forward their name and address for me to use to post the book.
Want to buy a copy?
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| ©Tommy on the run! |
To get a copy, please do scamper to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.
Geoff Swift's WEB page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.geoffswiftwriter.com/
Jane Cornwell's web page can be found HERE. Or type this: https://www.janecornwell.co.uk/
It just remains for me to post a selfie of me chillin' out on my cooling mat . . .
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| © Erin the Cat Princess |
Till laters!
ERin