The Church Mice at Christmas by Graham Oakley
Published by Templar books
![The Church Mice at Christmas](https://roselandonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-28-at-16.01.09-320x273.png)
Reissued to mark 40 years since it was first published, this book remains one of my favourite children’s Christmas stories and I’m not alone. A few years ago, the then Curator of Manuscripts at the British Library wrote a review for The Church Times, praising Graham Oakley’s books.
This book begins “One morning a few days before Christmas…..so it was all settled”. Of course, it wasn’t.
Having listened to many sermons on the subject of the meek being blessed, Sampson the cat has taken a vow never to harm the mice who live in Wortlethorpe Church, As a result, he finds himself taken advantage of, humiliated and generally outvoted on everything.
Arthur and Humphrey, leaders of the Church mice, get away with murder, well, not murder exactly, but to fund a Christmas party, they decide to offer Sampson as first prize in a raffle. Needless to say, as with all the Church Mice books, things don’t turn out quite the way the mice intended.
Packed with exquisitely detailed drawings and with a delightful and whimsical Christmas themed plot, this is a book I’ve re-read many times and bought as a Christmas gift for most of the children I know. It’s an absolute gem.
Although recommended for children aged 2-6, there are a few scary drawings so I’d suggest it’s more suitable for children towards the upper end of that age range, say from age 4.