Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher (Words and Pictures)

This one's a sheer delight, with a bit of history to it (which just makes us love it even more), Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher's "Tibs the Post Office Cat"...
A fabulous little story based on true events, "Tibs the Post Office Cat" tells the tale of Tibs, a young kitten who has loved life in his rural idyll and a small post office. Watching customers come and go, and listening to the hustle and bustle of village life seems perfect.

But Tibs is soon called on by the Chief Postmaster at London's largest sorting office - Mount Pleasant. There's a serious mouse problem! Mice are chewing the mail, eating off the stamps and basically making a complete pest of themselves.

The chief postmaster decides that the only thing for it is a mouser - and so Tibs (who is a bit of a pacifist really, and would rather make friends with mice rather than eat them) is drafted!

What will life be like in a massive sorting office? Will Tibs rise to the challenge or will the pesky mice send him scurrying. Sometimes, being peaceful and benign has its benefits as Tibs soon makes a whole gang of new mice friends and shows that there's more tasty fare to be had than eating letters - if the mice are prepared to earn their supper.

It's utterly beautiful this book, a lovely little storybook version of a famous cat who really did exist back in the 1950s. In fact here's a photo of the real Post Office Cat himself:

Tibs the Great in his heyday

Tibs was a whopping 23lbs so he was obviously very well loved (and well fed!) earning 2 shillings and sixpence a week (Not too shoddy for a moggy back in those days).

A lovely storybook adaptation of a famous tale of a moggy doing his duty for the Queen's Royal Mail.

Charlotte's best bit: Tibs coming up with a brilliant plan to give all the mice names - if they earn them!

Daddy's favourite bit: A fab little story book and an equally fascinating true story. Lovely stuff!

"Tibs the Post Office Cat" by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher is released today, published by Words and Pictures.