Six Blind Mice and an Elephant by Jude Daly (Otter-Barry Books)

Here's a lovely new treatment of a traditional Indian folk tale, retold beautifully by Jude Daly...
"Six Blind Mice and an Elephant" begins with a tired old elephant looking for a place to rest one night.

He makes his way to a barn, and soon all the villagers want to take a look at this fabulous and massive creature as he snoozes.

They're not the only interested ones. Six mice, hiding out in a tree trunk, also detect a new smell. They know the smell of all the other animals in the farmyard but this is different, so their natural curiosity gets the better of them and they go to investigate.

Obviously, being six blind mice they must rely on all their other sharp senses to describe this colossal creature.

"It's like a wall, or a rock!" squeaks one. "No, it's like a fan!" squeaks another. "Don't be silly, it's like a rope!" squeaks the smallest mouse of them all.

But Elephant is quick to point out that he's like an Elephant, much to the amazement of his new friends!

We rather like the nice ending that Jude has written for this story - which you'll discover by dipping into this wonderful book. Otter-Barry Books seem to have an eye for publishing some really gorgeous stories that break away from the usual mundane stuff, and this lovely little fable is sure to impress.

Charlotte's best bit: Tiny mouse, who seems to think Elephant's tail is like a rope swing!

Daddy's favourite bit: A lovely new treatment of a traditional tale with lots of fun artwork and great read-aloud bits to keep young ones entertained.

(Kindly supplied for review)

"Six Blind Mice and an Elephant" by Jude Daly is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books.