Dread Cat

Dread Cat does not want to hunt mice, and he devises a devilish plan to make the mice come to him, claiming that the war between cats and mice is over – and dispatching the mice one by one.

Yet, when the mice realise that their numbers are getting seriously depleted, they hatch a plan to make sure that no mouse is unaccounted for. Can they beat Dread Cat’s evil plan?

This short read with full-colour illustrations by Nicola O’Byrne is somewhat of a cautionary tale that we shouldn’t believe everything people tell us, just because they say so. After discovering his dishonesty, the mice band together against the calculating Dread Cat and enact their own justice, but it’s their power as a group that enables them to do so, rather than concentrating on their individual desire for the cheese that Dread Cat tempts them with in the first place.

The Little Gems series are perfect for new readers who might be looking for something with a little bit more text than a standard picture book, but something with plenty of colour pictures and a simple story.