Micro Review 71

 

The Fire Cats of London by Anna Fargher (Macmillan Children's Books)

After the splendid Umbrella Mouse books the whole family has been looking forward to this new book from Anna Fargher - her talent for retelling history through the eyes of animals is just brilliant.

This time we've gone much further back in time to London in 1666 and while the book does feature the Great Fire  it isn't quite the main point of the book. 

Plot threads are all about being separated from your family, perilous journeys, the fear (real or imagined) that is in the air regarding people who are different or foreign, and also quack medical ideas plus cruelty to animals in various forms.

When listed like that the books seems very dark and depressing - and also very political, but while, as an adult reader I can see these themes the book is just an adventure story about two wildcats who are captured in the wild, brought to London and then try to escape back to their home territory.

The skill in telling a story with so much to unpick but that remains a gripping adventure is huge and I'm already hoping for another book from Fargher very soon!

Equally (or sequel-ly) brilliant!

Umbrella Mouse to the Rescue - Anna Fargher

Originally due to be published in April I've had an advance copy of this book sitting on my Kindle for many months and it has been burning a hole in my curiosity too! I put off reading it for two reasons. Firstly book one was *so* good I was nervous about the sequel  - could it be as good?

The second reason was more personal, half of the joy from book one was reading it along side my family and the heated texts and messages we shared as we read the book. What with the pandemic we've not been able to really get together much this year and so I wanted the closeness that shared reading brings!

When the copy for Kentishbookboy arrived it just so happened that it was one of the weeks his year group was at school but I'm afraid to say neither his mum nor I could wait any longer and we spent every spare moment over two days reading and messaging.

After the climactic and traumatic ending of the first book we were plunged straight back in to Pip's world and like the first book there were moments of tenderness, fear, and excitement as the adventures across France continued. There were so many historical points covered and coupled with the realistic show of emotions and actions that warfare causes I often forgot that the cast were a mix of animals rather than a group of disparate human resistance fighters!

Being an adult and knowing how the real history of 1944 played out in France meant I was pretty sure how the adventure was going to end but the journey there, through the eyes of a band of animals, was gripping and at times downright scary! And the epilogue was (implausibly) perfect for me - a real pleasure to know that this was a complete story and there wouldn't be dozens of further sequels each becoming more far fetched.

Personally I think that the two Umbrella Mouse books deserve to become as popular as War Horse, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas & Good Night Mr Tom in the way they introduce so many different aspects of war to young readers.

I'm looking forward to hearing what Kentishbookboy and his nan & grandad think when they read the book - hopefully it won't be too long before we can all get together and have a proper book group chat in person.

Review Two - book group at a distance

The Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher

This was the first book that the Norfolkbookworm and the Kentishbookboy read simultaneously. For me this was a new way to read, usually if a book hooks me in then I read it from cover to cover in as short time as possible. Reading a small amount each night could have felt like the purgatory of a class book but instead for me it was great - this was a really tense book and reading in small chunks was one way to cope with this. It was also dramatic enough that I wanted to pick it up each night!

Again Kentishbookboy's thoughts are in purple and mine in brown.

The Umbrella Mouse.

Synopsis:
1944, and London is under attack. The umbrella shop that a young mouse, Pip Hanway has called her home all her life, is destroyed by a bomb, forcing her to begin a perilous quest to find a new home.

Pip is mouse who lives in an umbrella at a London umbrella shop. It is 1944 and bombing raids on London destroy her home and kill her parents. Pip is saved by a rescue dog and on realising that she is now an orphan decides that she has to get to her mothers relatives, who live in Italy. Through a series of adventures and misadventures she finds herself in Normandy, just after D-Day, working with the animal resistance - Noah's Ark.

Dilemma:

Should young Pip just go straight to the umbrella museum in Gignese, Italy, or should she stay and help Noah's Ark in France?

Pip has to learn to cope as an orphan in wartime London and then also has to decide if she is brave enough to help in some of the Noah's Ark missions. She also has to learn who she can trust and who she can't.

Morals/Themes:
Teamwork, friendship and courage all show that no matter your size, you can have an impact on the world. The author is clever to use the hardship of the animals to parallel the same hardships faces by the human resistance during WW2 and can express the characters' feelings clearly.

This book packs a mighty wallop for a middle-grade novel. The main theme is survival in wartime and also the decisions that you have to make in testing situations. The book does not shy away from any aspect of World War Two history but yet makes them accessible to a younger age range by making the characters animals rather than humans (although there are some humans who have their own tragic story arc).

Recommendation:

The book was great. there are tons of tense moments which encouraged us to read on...Pip is a wonderful chracter in the story, very adventurous and inspirational. Can't wait for book number two! Five stars.

I enjoyed this book, it was certainly tense and action packed, and for the most part credible (if you can handle talking mice!) but I didn't quite connect emotionally with it and unlike other children's books about WW2 I've read I wasn't moved to tears. I am pleased that the ending wasn't rushed and I will be reading any other books about Pip as soon as they are available. A solid 4 stars from me.

I was pleased that Fargher added in a nice author's note after the book proper to show just how based on real events it was - I was happy that my thoughts on one of the very first human characters to appear were right!

I've also enjoyed messaging and tweeting with family (and the author) as we read through the book. Highlights included

We don't trust xxxx 

Book is still very tense in the 3 chapters we read tonight 

Its not good for the blood pressure is it? 

If this was a film or TV show I'd be hiding behind the sofa by now

We know that we won't always agree on the books we read together, but I think that we'll definitely be reading more books this way as the year progresses - I think the next book up is going to be a totally different read as we try a David Walliams book.

As an aside Nanny and Grandad have both now finished this books and they both enjoyed it too - although they are lamenting the fact that Kentishbookboy is growing up so fast and tackling books with such grown up themes!