Adventuremice: Of Mice and Mummies

When Meepie and Pedro discover a stone covered in hieroglyphs whilst playing hide-and-seek in the sea, the Adventuremice realise it is a Very Important Discovery and set to work, preparing to transport it to a museum. However, arch-mouse-criminal Gorgonzola is determined to intercept them and steal the treasure for himself. Having managed to mouse-nap Meepie whilst stealing the stone, Pedro and the other mice are off on another amazing adventure!

I absolutely love this series and each new book is every bit as enjoyable and inventive as the one before. In Of Mice and Mummies, the adventure has a decidedly Egyptian feel and a mice-like James Bond style baddie! As ever with this series, text and illustration work in perfect harmony, engaging and entertaining readers. I have said before that I think there should be toys based on the Adventuremice characters to enable children to engage in imaginative play to their heart's content and this story would really lend itself to that.

There is plenty of humour throughout the story and although Gorgonzola is a really bad mouse, the team work together leading to a successful outcome all round, including their learning a secret about Gorgonzola's relationship to Skipper! Perhaps he might reappear in future adventures . . .

There are so many things about these lovely books which make them an instant hit with younger readers. Colourful, humorous and packed with real 'story' to enjoy, they are also a real celebration of the importance of pictures and the role they have in feeding the imagination and supporting emergent readers. Complete genius!

128 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+

This is the eighth fantastic book in the Adventuremice series by Reeve and McIntyre! These two authors make are hard to beat when it comes to creating warm-hearted and comical adventures.

As always, the illustrations in this series are really outstanding, they are warm and colourful and invite the reader to really investigate the page to find hidden gems. The authors provide online resources for you to feel a part of the narrative as well. This makes it a perfect read-along for parents and their younger readers.

It is not a surprise that this series has won so many outstanding awards for illustration and storytelling. Early chapter books like like these are perfect for young readers because they introduce reading for pleasure in a way that is extremely fun and engaging. The chapters are carefully planned to be an appropriate length and the vocabulary choice makes it perfectly pitched to keep the new readers excitement. The narrative is fast-paced, fun and absolutely lovely to read through.

The fact that there are several books in this series will keep kids reading and asking for more, it's a great series that deserves the recognition it has achieved. I will definitely adding it to our must read book list.

128 pages / Reviewed by Amanda Shipton, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+