With quirky, characterful illustrations by the unmistakeable Ralph Steadman, Bernard Stone’s Emergency Mouse is perfect for putting little ones at ease ahead of hospital stays or visits. Gently funny, and warm-hearted to the core, the cast of cute mouse characters with various ailments and their medical attendants will surely provide reassurance and light relief.
Poor Henry. He’s in hospital for an operation. It’s midnight, and everyone is asleep except him. To try to take his mind off his pain, Henry “tried to think of all the things he liked doing best”. After thinking about his poorly pet mouse, Henry notices some rather strange goings-on in his ward. A host of mice bustle from little doors in the skirting board and assemble a miniature hospital, with white-coated mice doctors working hard to cure their patients, among them Limping Mouse, Tropical Mouse, Fuss-pot Mouse, and Champion Mouse. After witnessing a thrilling race against time, Henry wakes to the welcome news that he’s well enough to go home. What’s more, his own little mouse is better too!
Midnight in the hospital ward and everyone is asleep except Henry. His pet mouse is sick, too. Before he knows what's happening, tiny doors open in the skirting boards and mice dressed as doctors and nurses wheel out tiny beds. The mice are taking over the hospital for the night and setting up their own emergency ward.
This enchanting story, illustrated with a remarkable gallery of mouse characters by the inimitable Ralph Steadman, will have special appeal for any child who has ever had to visit hospital.
Bernard Stone was one of the great literary figures of London. A bookseller and an author born in Nottingham in 1924, his parents were Jewish refugees from the Ukraine. He began his working life as a street-trader before eventually founding his own bookshop in London, and going on to write many books for adults and children before his death in 2005.
