Library Book Review 7

Tumtum & Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall

We've Finished

Back in September we went to the library and checked out seven books. Today we review the last of those books. This one we had to renew twice and are glad we did.

Kaya

I chose this book because it had three stories in one volume. Plus the main characters are mice. They are too cute.

This book holds the first three stories in the Tumtum & Nutmeg series. There are seven stories currently. I’m not sure if the author is writing more. Here you can see the three stories.

All three stories show how Tumtum and Nutmeg take care of the human family in whose house they live. As well as the adventures their one friend gets them into.

The stories are a lot of fun, but a little scary too. And Nutmeg doesn’t seem to get the credit she deserves, but she is such a humble mouse. So sweet and loving.

The chapter headers, footers, and chapter dividers are really cute.

Plus each story has illustrations sprinkled throughout. Not color, but nice pen and ink sketches.

Here is one that shows the Mildew children.

I want to read the rest of the stories.

Melody

This is a cute set of adventures. I don’t know if I’d stay friends with the General. For a General he doesn’t think through his actions very well. He was awesome in the first story with Aunt Ivy. She is terrible. Not a very nice guest at all.

The second story was very interesting and showed the different in living style between the wild mice and gerbils. The ballerina mice were really cute.

The third story brought in a group of very nasty rats. I know people who have very nice rats as pets. Not these. They were mean.

The pictures were nice additions.

Kirsten

To have a fairy godmouse would be wonderful! Tumtum and Nutmeg do everything they can to help their human family. They also help out their friends. Sometimes the friends get themselves into trouble.

The stories flowed well and the style was easy, but not too easy. I’m looking forward to the next books.

Lanie

It’s too bad Nutmouse Hall is located where it is. I think Nutmeg would enjoy gardening. She can’t do any for her house or the doll house upstairs. Oh well.

This was long but really fun to read. And it really wasn’t all that long since it wasn’t 500+ pages of one story, but three different ones.

I love Tumtum and Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the best fairy godmouse ever! And Tumtum is a very handy mouse to have around your house. Smallest do-it-yourself “person” I know. I really got into the stories too. They made me laugh, gasp, get annoyed. The author wrote well to get my emotions involved.

Looking forward to reading more of these when we get a chance.

Xyra

Tumtum and Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall by Emily Bearn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book held three adventures in one volume. Each adventure was between 160 and 180 pages. A good long read for young readers.

I am a big fan of books with animals as the main characters. Emily Bearn creates an interesting world for her characters. Normal and fantastic at the same time.

Book one introduces us to The Nutmouses, [hmmm, should that be Nutmice? :-)] Tumtum and his wife Nutmeg, and their human family, the Mildews. Mr. Mildew is an inventor and single father with two children, Arthur and Lucy. Mr. Mildew, as his name suggests, is not the best housekeeper. He is more involved with his inventions. So Tumtum and Nutmeg come to the rescue. They start doing little things to help spruce up Rose Cottage so that it is more comfortable for the children who think that Nutmeg is a fairy (a tiny fairy godmother who does the work of a house elf).

You might think the story just progresses nicely, but enter Aunt Ivy. She is HORRIBLE! The children write a note to Nutmeg asking for help in getting Aunt Ivy to leave. The Nutmouses turn to their friend General Marchmouse for assistance and the resulting plan is outstanding!

Book two starts out calmly enough, but Nutmouse Hall and Rose Cottage are both turned to upheaval when General Marchmouse comes to stay. An even grander plan is hatched to help rescue the General and a group of gerbils from being sold or worse by the children's school teacher. How does she get involved? Well, you'll have to read the book. I don't want to give too much away.

Book three begins with a camping trip and finds itself on the high seas of the pond in short order. It seems the General has not learned his lesson from book two and gotten everyone in a right fix again. This time Arthur and Lucy come to the rescue of Nutmeg and the others. While the plan does not go smoothly, in the end the Nutmouses return safely to Rose Cottage and General Marchmouse to his wife in the gun cupboard at Manor House.

The writing is smooth and the stories flow nicely. The illustrations add a bit of whimsy to the books, but are not completely necessary (I wouldn't remove them though). Ms. Bearn created main characters that are well developed and interesting. The side characters are not as fully developed, but they are not flat either. She makes sure you understand they each have their own personality. The other children in the classroom of book two are flat, but they aren't even side characters. More like part of the scenery.

I've done a bit of research on this series and there are 4 more books. I will be adding them to my to be read list and looking for them at my local library. Should you want to learn more about their world, check out their website: http://www.tumtumandnutmeg.co.uk/

Enjoy!

If you want to learn more about Tumtum and Nutmeg, check out their website.

Happy reading!

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