The Little Gentleman

Philippa Pearce's The Little Gentleman is a quiet, clever story for 8 year olds about a lonely girl who's asked to read aloud in a meadow to nobody at all.

What happens

Well, nobody anyone can see. Mr Franklin has broken his leg falling off a ladder. He needs someone to sit on his log by the river and read from a book about earthworms. Loudly. Bet is his cleaning lady's granddaughter, and she's the one he picks.

On the second try, a mole leans out of his hole in the grass. He talks. He's very rude about Mr Franklin. And he's extremely keen on worms (the way he describes eating them is gloriously revolting).

It turns out the mole has been read to before. There was a Miss X, whose father was a vicar, and a Master Y. Little clues keep dropping that this mole is a lot older than any mole ought to be. Working it out alongside Bet is half the fun.

Bet is a lovely heroine. She's quiet and watchful and does a lot of housework for a child. Her mum left when she was a baby, and she lives with her gran and grandad. The meadow is the one place she feels free.

Mr Franklin is harder to like, and that's what makes it interesting. He wants to study the mole. He even plans a 'vivarium' for him in the garden. Bet decides that's ignoble (a word she learns from the mole himself). Is he a villain, or just a man who wants to understand things a bit too much?

Worth knowing before you hand it over

There's one sad, bloody scene by the river. A heron swallows the mole whole, and he has to fight his way out from the inside. The heron dies, and Bet is in floods of tears. There's also a passing mention of a boy who used to read to the mole, then went off to war and never came back.

If your reader gets upset about animals being hurt, that chapter might be one to read together. But the tone is gentle and wise, and the trust that grows between Bet and the mole is really touching.

What to read next

For another quiet Philippa Pearce story with animals at its heart, try The Battle of Bubble and Squeak. Sid's two gerbils are keeping the whole house awake at night, and his mum wants them gone.