Book review: A boy called M.O.U.S.E

Title: A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E

Author: Penny Dolan

Illustrator: Peter Bailey

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: 1^st December 2011

(From the press release: recommended for readers ages 9 and up.)

We all know the story of the farm boy raised by a loving Ma who discovers he's not a farm boy, and his real family are important and wealthy. We also know the story of the boy that survives the horrors of wicked uncles, cruel headmasters, and schoolyard bullies, but runs away and survives through his wits on the mean streets of the city.  

                A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E. takes us on this familiar path of adventure in a Victorian setting with a cast of appropriately caring aunts, talented dogs, fairy dancers, wise clockwork-makers and theatre-folk – all towards an expected but somewhat unconventional conclusion. Mouse is a quick-witted, intelligent, likable hero supported by a strong cast of diverse and charming characters, while his foil Scrope is a conflicted-but-not-wholly-evil uncle who comes to an appropriate end, backed and betrayed by the real villain of the piece, Mr Button.

                Dolan's strength lies in ensuring that bad deeds get their karmic reward, but also in never allowing her characters to settle at the cheap happily-ever-after ending – reunions with unknown blood relatives are complicated and difficult. The reader walks away with the sense that while family is important, the family you make for yourself is just as valuable.

For adults reading to their children, or just wanting to read an enjoyable yarn, the magic lies in Mouse's determination, the way Nick Tock and Vanya scheme to make the Albion Theatre a success, and the interweaving of A Midsummer Night's Dream and other Shakespearean devices – both on the stage and off. For children, it's the misery at Murkstone Hall, the puppets, and Mouse's high-wire escapades.

The real star of the book, for young and old, is the wonderful and devoted Amazing Dog Toby.

Review by Kim Cook