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Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher (view source)
Revision as of 11:23, 11 October 2020
, 11:23, 11 October 2020no edit summary
|isbn=9781910277201
|website=http://www.joycedunbar.com/
|aznuk=1910277207
|aznus=1910277207
Tib's story is a sweet one. He arrives at the busy sorting office, feeling a little nervous about his role and responsibilities. As a kitten one of his best friends was a mouse! So he isn't too keen on the idea of killing all the rodent inhabitants of the sorting office. They are, unfortunately, creating havoc though by chewing through items of post! On his first night there, Tibs meets some of the mice and tries to befriend them. None of the mice have names and so clever Tibs tells them that he will give them names, if they will earn them, and to earn their names they must tidy up the letters and not eat them! Tibs finds them left-overs to eat from the scrap bin, so that helps them not chew the post up! The mice continue to be helpful to Tibs, even assisting in the capture of some potential thieves on the railway line!
The look and feel of the story is reminiscent, to me, of the Church Mice stories by Graham Oakley that I read as a child. There's something enjoyable about seeing animals going about their business when the humans aren't around. It also reminded me of the wonderful [[:Category:Shirley Hughes|Shirley Hughes]], especially because of the period setting, and the watercolour and ink pictures. Tibs is a sweet-looking cat, but the mice were definitely my favourites in the story! I especially like the page where they are all busy doing jobs, tidying up pencils, sweeping the floor, and scooping up poop! The artwork is colourful, and interesting to look at. I liked the picture of the old post office where Tibs was born, with the weighing scales, and pigeon holes for post, and jars of sweeties and a box of sugar mice. This is a lovely, gentle read that is pleasurable for young and old alike. If you'd like more from Dunbar, try [[Squiglet Pig by Joyce Dunbar and Tim Hopgood]]
Further reading suggestion: You might also enjoy reading [[The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley]].