Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage by Emily Bearn

Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage by Emily Bearn
Buy Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage by Emily Bearn at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: Another exciting story in this wonderful, old-fashioned series about two little mice.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 240	Date: August 2011
Publisher: Egmont
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1405256551
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Mysterious things are afoot in Rose Cottage. It appears that some new mice, one with golden teeth, have moved into the kitchen and are threatening the tranquil lives of Tumtum and Nutmeg who live in Nutmouse Hall. After some investigation they discover the new mice are town mice, intent on causing trouble. Will the children discover who has been stealing their things, or discover a way to stop their father from selling Rose Cottage before it's too late and their lives, as well as Tumtum and Nutmeg's, are changed forever?

I'm already a fan of these little mice. They always remind me of happy hours I spent as a little girl reading the stories of The Borrowers, their house hidden away in the broom cupboard. Tumtum and Nutmeg flit about Rose Cottage, 'helping' the human children who live there but trying to remain unseen. Their quiet lives seem to be constantly interrupted by adventures however. This particular adventure is full of action and suspense...one of our little friends is captured by the children, there's a toy helicopter on the loose, some mysterious hidden treasure and General Marchmouse is enlisted to 'help', and we all know that means trouble! It's an engaging story, and the story moves along at a good pace.

The book is divided into chapters - meaty enough to allow just one per bedtime reading session but not so long that solo readers will find them tiring. Children will need to be reasonably confident readers in order to read by themselves, but the story also works well being read aloud so younger children needn't miss out. There are lovely black and white illustrations throughout as usual, and they compliment the text nicely and help when reading aloud to smaller children.

I think readers new to Tumtum and Nutmeg might wonder what's going on occasionally in this book. Their history of adventures isn't explained, so it would be easier to begin by reading one of their previous adventures first, just so that you know who everyone is. Tumtum and Nutmeg do have a habit of falling into adventures, and it helps to know who they are, and what sort of mice they are, before reading this latest book. I'm interested in how their relationship with the children of the house is developing as the series goes on. There seems to be more and more contact between them as the stories progress...will the children ever find out who Nutmeg really is?

I do like these roly-poly little mice, all dressed up in their little outfits, and I quite fancy the idea of having my own Tumtum and Nutmeg to come and live our kitchen and carry out helpful tasks like sewing on missing buttons. As always from Emily Bearn this is a lovely story that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: Tumtum and Nutmeg have had lots of adventures. Here are some more of them.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage by Emily Bearn at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage by Emily Bearn at Amazon.com.

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