Oddly enough, I realised that we rather daftly had no Mini Grey books on our shelves except one - a book that has been returned to again and again, a favourite story that's as warm and cuddly and satisfying as curling up in a cosy cheese box at the end of a busy and stressful day.

"Hermelin The Detective Mouse" is just brilliant, building a story within the first few page spreads for observant kids who love picking out exquisite detail in illustrations that later contributes to (and in fact becomes a core part of) the story itself.

Hermelin is a mouse. Not just any mouse but a detective mouse who knows (and secretly looks after) all the people who live around Offley Street.

They're a strange and eclectic lot, but when several of their prized possessions go missing, it's time for Hermelin to swing into action and solve this tricky case.

Mini brings in elements of acceptance as the book begins to wind down, and the residents of Offley Street realise just who is responsible for restoring their beloved items - reacting with horror that a mouse, a MOUSE no less, could be the one to save the day. Only one little girl realises that it doesn't matter who you are or what you are, you're still a worthy soul - so Hermelin discovers a brand new friend, and perhaps even a partner for the next detective adventure.

We were very lucky to meet Mini once, busy with a fab workshop encouraging kids to make their own dioramas based around one of her fabulous books, and she was as warm, charming and brilliant to talk to as you'd wish - and made C feel like the most important person in the room, despite how busy she was. We've loved her books over the years (Traction Man was a particular fave series, and Biscuit Bear is also just SOOOO good!) so have included a few of the other review links below - but for us Hermelin is the cream cheese champion of the lot, and a worthy keeper.

Original Review Links: 

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 28th March 2014 - "Hermelin - The Detective Mouse" by Mini Grey (Jonathan Cape PB Ltd)

Egg Drop by Mini Grey (Red Fox Picture Books)

Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey by Mini Grey (Red Fox Picture Books)

Traction Man Meets Turbodog by Mini Grey (Red Fox Picture Books)

Traction Man is Here! by Mini Grey (Red Fox Picture Books)

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon

Biscuit Bear

Mini Grey's latest book sneaked up on us, tapped us on the big toe and took us completely by surprise. Rather like the wonderful mouse detective who is the star of this utterly fantastic story.

Hermelin (named for this rather delicious looking Czech cheese)...

Hermelin Cheese - Drool-worthy stuff, not just for mice!

...is a little mouse with a unique gift. Emerging from the cheese box which bore his name, Hermelin quickly found out that he could read - and with the aid of a typewriter hidden away in the loft he lives in, write and converse with the people he shares a street with.

Opening with a fantastic double page spread of the street, Mini Grey is a devil for the detail and you'll already know this if you've loved any of her previous books (The Traction Man series are amongst our favourite children's books). In that spread you'll be able to pick out a series of intricate little events that Hermelin eventually ends up investigating. With keen mouse-powers of observation, and a knack for being in the right place in the right time, Hermelin types up notes and hints for the residents of Offley Street, helping them retrieve lost items - or even save a much-loved pet goldfish before a nasty cat wolfs it for lunch.

Soon, Hermelin's detective prowess and heroism comes to the fore when one of the youngest residents is in mortal danger, and Hermelin must act swiftly to prevent a catastrophe.

The residents of Offley Street want to thank the hidden hero, who has remained in the shadows the whole time. But mice aren't to everyone's taste, and poor Hermelin realises that he is in fact a pest not a pal.

Forlorn, dejected and upset, Hermelin settles down to sleep, determined to leave the street the very next day. But one resident is rather more forgiving - and can't wait to meet the mouse detective herself.

Mini Grey's gift is her ability to mix an enticing story with some dazzling layouts, gorgeous artwork and an absolute ton of detail packed onto every page. It's so delicious watching the events laid out in that first panel unfolding throughout the first part of the story, and then realising that Mini Grey could be onto something here, a whole series of Hermelin books with kid-friendly detective stories wrapped up in such a wonderful way. The book's effect on Charlotte was electric - truly brilliant to see her loving the book so much, and wanting to hear the story again and again. In fact, because of Mini Grey's approach, it's absolutely brilliant to visit and revisit Hermelin's world to pick up on all the bits you'll inevitably miss first time.

Mini truly is a superstar. Do not miss this one!


Charlotte's best bit: The munching crunching dustbin lorry and its unintentional human passenger. Eeks!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A delicious book, that's even tastier than the cheese our heroic little mouse detective is named for!

I'm quite surprised we haven't reviewed Mini Grey's "Egg Drop" before. Mini is a superstar when it comes to writing and illustrating some of our favourite children's books. We really love her "Traction Man" series, and we've had our eye out for "Egg Drop" for quite a while.

Up it popped in our library stack, so we grabbed it.

It's the story of a young chicken. A very young chicken. In fact, a chicken that hasn't even hatched yet - but dreams of flight, of soaring through the air with the greatest of ease. Our egg-bound chum is smart but very very impatient, and immediately starts making plans for a first flight. Dreaming of rockets and wings, of zeppelins and various other means, Egg comes up with the ultimate idea. Gain some height, take a leap of faith and see what happens...

Eggs and gravity - bad mix, right?

We'll leave you to discover what happens to plucky little egg in this fun tale. Mini's trademark humour and beautiful illustrations make this book soar through the clouds as light as a feather. Which is more than we can say for our eggy chum!

Charlotte's best bit: Poor egg's post-crash patch-up job (those screws and nails look like they hurt!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Patience is a virtue and this tale tells it like it is perfectly.

He's cooler than Bond. Cleverer than Sherlock, he's fantastic and made of plastic - he's Traction Man! Mini Grey's super-smooth spy hero is back in another adventure, this time taking place during a family trip to the beach. Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush must fend off the advances of Granny's new (very slobbery) puppy as new frontiers for adventure can be found down amongst the sand dunes.

Will our intrepid twosome survive "Operation Picnic"? Or will the sun, sand and seaweed prove too much for them?

Mini Grey's Traction Man series are brilliant fun, chock full of great little details and things that made me sigh with reminiscence as I remembered faithfully building my own action man army as a kid.

Charlotte also loves this series, mainly because she has a huge soft spot for scrubbing brush (He's SO cute!) and of course because Traction Man is a hit with the ladies, just like Bond.

Charlotte's best bit: Traction Man's new friends, a couple of plucky Barbie Dolls, come to the rescue!

Daddy's favourite bit: So many delicious little details and knowing nods to our childhoods. Very awesome!

Oxfordshire is a seething hotbed of literary genius, so it comes as no surprise to find some of the world's best selling authors based here in our wonderful county.

The "Get Oxfordshire Reading" Campaign aims to raise the profile of reading, and in conjunction with the National Literacy Trust, 81 primary schools have signed up and pledged support.

Literary greats such as Mark ("The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time") Haddon and Mini ("Egg Drop", "Biscuit Bear") Grey are also joined by actors like Miriam Margolyes and fantastic illustrators such as Korky Paul to ensure that children get the right start on their path to discovering the joy of reading and books.

We fully support the initiative here at ReadItDaddy and look forward to hearing how the campaign fares in the coming year. There are so many talented individuals and brilliant organisations involved in this that it's sure to be a massive success.

Click the links below to find out more:

"Celebrity Authors Support the Get Oxfordshire Reading Campaign"

"Mark Haddon gets behind Get Oxfordshire Reading"

The Campaign Website

Traction Man, the lantern-jawed plastic action hero is here to save the day! We've previously reviewed Traction Man meets Turbo Dog and loved it. Here's the first tale in the chronicles of Traction Man, outlining how he first meets his faithful chum Scrubbing Brush, and how (with the aid of timely wardrobe changes and equipment grabs) he manages to save the microuniverse around his owner's house time and time again.

Mini Grey's illustrations are beautifully detailed, and she has an absolutely enviable talent for tapping into the imagination of children and how their imagination explodes when they start playing and creating their own little worlds around their toys.

Superb stuff, we loved it!

Charlotte's best bit: Traction Man's cool diving outfit

Daddy's favourite bit: Traction Man's extremely loud action trousers

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

When I was a mere whippersnapper, I had a vast collection of Action Man stuff. Armoured cars, the Pursuit Craft (a sort of transformable aeroplane, boat, car thing) and a whole army of the fuzzy headed scar-faced eagle-eyed soldiers themselves (with all their uniforms and associated gear). I kept telling myself "This isn't playing with dolls, this is proper boy's stuff!" but it was really. So the inspiration for Traction Man was probably boys like me who could imagine an adventurous landscape picked out in the confines of the tiddly back garden.

In Traction Man's latest adventure, a quest to climb Mount Compost Heap results in disaster, as Traction Man's faithful hound Scrubbing Brush ends up binned by a rather germ-obsessed daddy. Scrubbing Brush's replacement is TurboDog, a battery-powered electronic dog with about as much personality as a toaster. Nevertheless, Traction Man vows to find his scrubbing brush chum. Will he win the day? As you know by now, no spoilers you'll have to find out by reading the book yourself.

Mini Grey mixes together beautiful comic-like illustrations with a lantern-jawed hero and his miniature world of adventure. For children, there's the thrill of wondering what's going to happen with each turn of the page. For adults, there are so many in-jokes and clever little asides in the Traction Man books that they're an absolute delight (and I suspect that Mini Grey has a massive protrusion on the side of her face permanently from sticking her tongue in her cheek constantly!)

Slick, thoroughly entertaining and beautifully presented. A must-buy.

Charlotte's best bit: Traction Man fighting the nefarious bin denizens

Daddy's favourite bit: Some rather iffy in-jokes. TurboDog's battery hole, in particular, made me wince.

Rating: 4 and a half out of 5 stars

Mini Grey's books are a real treat. The genius behind Biscuit Bear, Egg Drop and Traction Man turns her attention to the classic nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle", concentrating on two of its characters, Dish and Spoon. 

No ordinary dinnerware these two, Dish and Spoon are part of a successful double act, travelling the world making people marvel at their antics. 

Their adventures span the globe but life takes a rather tragic turn - and the rest of the book is a bittersweet melancholy lesson on how you should treasure life when life is good.

It's difficult to describe just how Mini Grey puts together a seemingly higgledy piggledy hotch potch of page layouts and knowing references to the original nursery rhyme in such an original way but it's a fantastic book chock full of superb illustrations and storytelling. 


Charlotte's best bit: Poor cracked dish!

Daddy's favourite bit: The classic Dish and Spoon LP at the back (with accompaniment by other characters from the nursery rhyme)


Rating: 5 out of 5