Paul Gallico - Manxmouse

First published by William Heinemann Ltd in 1968

Published in paperback by Pan Books Ltd in 1972

This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2017

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd,

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Text copyright © Paul Gallico 1968

Why You’ll Love This Book copyright © Michael Bond 2012

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2017

Cover illustration © Jarom Vogel 2017

Paul Gallico asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007457311

Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780007457328

Version: 2017-03-02

For Grace

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published by William Heinemann Ltd in 1968 Published in paperback by Pan Books Ltd in 1972 This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2017 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk Text copyright © Paul Gallico 1968 Why You’ll Love This Book copyright © Michael Bond 2012 Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2017 Cover illustration © Jarom Vogel 2017 Paul Gallico asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780007457311 Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780007457328 Version: 2017-03-02

Dedication For Grace

Why You’ll Love This Book by Michael Bond

1 – The Story of the Tiddly Mouse-Maker

2 – The Story of Manxmouse and the Clutterbumph

3 – The Story of the Happenings in Nasty

4 – The Story of Manxmouse and Pilot Captain Hawk

5 – The Story of the Great Bumbleton Mouse Hunt

6 – The Story of Nervous Nelly

7 – The Story of Wendy H. Troy

8 – The Story of the Terrified Tiger

9 – The Story of the Greedy Pet Shop Proprietor

10 – The Story of the Marvellous Manx Mouse Auction

11 – The Story of Manxmouse Meets Manxmouse

12 – The Story of Manxmouse Meets Manx Cat

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About the Author

Books by Paul Gallico

About the Publisher

There are untold millions of mice in the world. They come in all shapes and sizes, colours and nationalities. There are Japanese Waltzing Mice, Frizzie Mice with curly whiskers, Singing Mice, pink Hairless Mice, Chocolate coloured Mice, Long Haired Mice, Mice from the Himalayas and Siam …

And then there are mice that can be found in a small shop in the tiny village of Buntingdowndale in the heart of England. They come in a choice of colours; brown, green or white, and they all have pink ears. But they lack one important item.

That’s because they are made by an elderly ceramist whose life’s work is to fashion them out of a mixture of various clays from Scandinavia and loam taken from the banks of Deedle, a brook that meanders through the village.

Baked in an oven overnight, they are very brittle, which is why he doesn’t give them a tail, for fear it might break off and spoil his creation.

And therein lies the rub: the old gentleman is a perfectionist and his dream is to one day make a Super-mouse. A mouse which is like no other.

Does he achieve his dream? Well, in the hands of Paul Gallico he has certainly inspired a delightful story, head and shoulders above the rest. So read on …

By any standards you will find Manxmouse to be a very special character indeed, and the book itself is unputdownable.

Michael Bond began writing the stories about a bear called Paddington in 1958 while working as a cameraman for BBC television. They are loved the world over and have been translated into more than 30 languages. The 50th Anniversary novel Paddington Here and Now was shortlisted for the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize. 2014 saw the publication of a new title, Love from Paddington , as well as the movie adaptation.

In 1997 Michael was awarded the OBE for services to children’s literature, and in 2007 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Reading University. He lives in London with his wife, Sue.

There was once rather an extraordinary old ceramist who lived in the village of Buntingdowndale in the heart of England. Ceramics is the art of making pottery into tiles, or dishes, or small glazed figures.

What was unusual about him was that he only made mice. And they were not the ordinary kind either. Other potters in the village, and there were several, turned out birds or dogs, kittens or rabbits and many different kinds of animal, but this one made nothing but the most lifelike and enchanting little ceramic mice from morning until night.

He was a happy fellow who hummed to himself contentedly throughout the day as, with his clever fingers, he modelled mouse after mouse after mouse. In the evening he would put those that were dry into a special oven and let them bake overnight. Then the next day he would take them out, polish them, file off the rough edges and look at them lovingly before either setting them in the window of his shop in Buntingdowndale or sending them off up to London.

He probably knew more about mice and their ways than anyone else in the world, so that he was able almost to think like a mouse.