Dick King-Smith’s The Mouse Family Robinson is a cosy animal adventure for 7 year olds about a family of house mice who decide they’ve had quite enough of the cat.<\/p>\n
John and Janet Robinson live under a kitchen floor. So does their elderly neighbour Mr Brown, whose wife was eaten by the cat long before the story begins.<\/p>\n
When Janet has her first babies, Mr Brown shares his trick for naming them. Go through the alphabet! (He’s had seventy-eight children, so he’s been through it three times.) So along come Ambrose, Beaumont, Camilla, Desdemona, Eustace and Felicity.<\/p>\n
Beaumont is the curious one. On his very first trip across the kitchen, a furry face with yellow eyes rises out of a basket. It’s Mr Brown who calls him back just in time.<\/p>\n
Beaumont’s answer is very simple. If the cat won’t leave, the mice will.<\/p>\n
So the whole family goes out at night, sniffing their way along the street for a house that doesn’t smell of cat. They find Number 16, where a boy called Bill keeps a whole room of fancy pet mice. And Mr Brown comes with them, because Beaumont won’t go without him.<\/p>\n
It’s gentle, funny and very kind. Everyone says “Gosh!” a lot (it runs in the family). There’s a snooty pink-eyed pet mouse who calls John an ugly mug and tells him to sling his hook. And Bill, who only wants to tame a wild mouse, is a lovely giant to have on your side.<\/p>\n
The chapters are short, which makes it a nice one to read aloud a chapter a night.<\/p>\n
It’s worth knowing about Mr Brown before you start. He’s very old, and near the end he dies of old age, quietly in the little box Bill has given him as a bed. Bill gives him a proper burial in the garden with the young mice watching.<\/p>\n
It’s handled with real tenderness, but a reader who has grown fond of “Uncle Brown” may need a cuddle. For a child who’s recently lost a pet or a grandparent, it might be worth reading that chapter together.<\/p>\n
The rest is warm and cheerful, and the family keeps on growing right to the last page.<\/p>\n
If they fall for the Robinsons, Magnus Powermouse is another Dick King-Smith mouse family, with a baby so enormous and so hungry that his poor parents can’t keep him fed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dick King-Smith’s The Mouse Family Robinson is a cosy animal adventure for 7 year olds about a family of house mice who decide they’ve had quite enough of the cat. John and Janet Robinson live under a kitchen floor. So does their elderly neighbour Mr Brown, whose wife was eaten by the cat long before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13490,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":8021,"lr_next_read_anchor":"Magnus Powermouse","lr_seo_hook":"Six baby mice, one hungry cat and a house move by moonlight."},"book_tag":[1045],"age_group":[19],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[262],"class_list":["post-9255","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-adventure-books","age_group-books-for-7-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-dick-king-smith"],"yoast_title":"The Mouse Family Robinson by Dick King-Smith | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"Six baby mice, one hungry cat and a house move by moonlight. For ages 7+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n