Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Dudley Doormouse

5 star:		(3)
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The Adventures of Dudley Dormouse is a wonderful book about a cute little mouse living in the English countryside. With each story, there are illustrations which show a deeper story going on and my children loved to point out what it was. For example, in "Dudley and the Strawberry Shake" Dudley goes strawberry picking. He finds an extra large strawberry that he tries to take home for lunch, but it won't come off. What the text doesn't describe is that it is actually the nose of a dog who is sleeping, camouflaged under the hedge. The dog wakes up, startled, and shakes his head vigoursly to get Dudley off and he goes flying through the air and lands on the grass with a bump. "What an odd strawberry." Thinks Dudley. We loved it. There are also many little details in the illustrations that are hidden and the children love discovering them. Like an expression of fright on the face of a tree as a cat sneaks up to Dudley, or the Z patterns on curtains, or in the branches of trees whenever Dudley gets sleepy. It's all so subtle, we had the book for quite a while before we noticed everything. This is a book that the children have never yet tired of and we have had it for at least four years. Definitely one to buy.

These books are precious and hard to find... do not let the fact that there are no pictures available dissuade you. As someone else before me mentioned in their review, the pictures will have your kids (or just you :)) looking back at them over and over again.

I am sad to see that this book is so hard to find. I had a copy as a child, and after I had grown up and moved on to big-girl books, I kept remembering the book with beautiful illustrations about a mouse who wakes up thinking about tea and cake, but when his stove doesn't work he goes on a dangerous adventure to unstop his chimney... I finally found a beat-up library cast-off, and I treasure it.