The Tale of the Castle Mice

by Michael Bond and illustrated by Emily Sutton

“The Tale of the Castle Mice” by Michael Bond and illustrated by Emily Sutton. Published by Penguin. A charming story of a family of mice inhabiting a doll house in a castle and how they face trying times when their beloved home is taken away.

Mr and Mrs Perk were a mice couple who lived with their thirteen children in the doll house of an Earl’s castle. They worked quite hard to maintain their beautiful home in an impeccable manner. They would clean the dollhouse every morning and disappear through holes when visitors came to see it. The dollhouse was quite a hit with the visitors who felt that it was the best maintained one that they had ever come across.

The mice were now used to a routine and the comforts of a lovely and cosy home. A day came when something extraordinary happened. They woke up one morning to smell something strange. The castle was being painted. After some days, the castle looked beautiful while the dollhouse looked so downcast that it was no longer the centre of attraction. There were talks of it being done away altogether. This upset the mice so much. The children took matters in their hands without consulting their parents. They poured washing liquid when their parents had gone out and got out brushes to scrub the dirt. This ended up disastrously with the paper coming away from the walls. The dollhouse was doomed now.

What happened next? Would the dollhouse be done away? Where would the  mice go? What could they do? Would Mr and Mrs Perk be angry with the children? Would they ever get a lovely home again? Read the short filled with humour and warmth to find out.

My eight year old has loved this book from the time he was 4. We loved looking at all the details in the pictures. The story revolves around bonding together as a family, sharing, accepting mistakes, never giving up and overcoming all obstacles. This book is a trip down nostalgic lane for me as I used to collect old greeting cards with cutouts and the illustrations are so old worldly. This book by Michael Bond of Paddington Bear fame is not one of those well known books.

Recommended Age

The book is perfect for children above 4 years and for adults like me who wouldn’t mind spending time with picture books 😂