Welcome to the little world of Albert Mouse - Dartmouth's most fa-mouse resident.

"One day I'm going to see the world!" said Albert.

Albert was a mouse. He had always been a mouse and probably always would be a mouse for as long as he lived.  His father had been a mouse too, and so was his grandfather. In fact, as far as Albert knew, his family had been mice for as long as anyone could possibly remember.  

The other thing that Albert Mouse knew was that he and his family had always lived at No. 10 Higher Street in Dartmouth, a lovely white three-storey house next to the bookshop.  Albert had never even ventured past the garden gate, but he often sat up in his bedroom window and looked across the rooftops.

"Has anyone seen Mickey Mustard?" 

The police are looking for a notorious smuggler called Mickey Mustard.  The problem is they don’t seem to have a clue where he is, but Albert's friend Big Tony does.  

Very soon he and Albert have their eyes set on capturing the smuggler and collecting the reward.  

"Albert held onto the straps of his backpack and launched himself off the window ledge."

The arrival of a hot-air balloon over the town of Dartmouth gets everyone excited, especially Albert. So he quickly rushes off to see Mrs Saunders at the bookshop to find out all he can about flying machines even though Big Tony says that in his opinion "if you didn’t come into this world from an egg, then you have no right to be in the air. "

Soon Albert has a Top Secret plan, that even Big Tony doesn’t know about until it all goes wrong. 

Albert, who was still looking out of the window, noticed that the hedges seemed to be moving faster and faster past the window. 

“That’s odd,” said the little mouse. 

“What is?” asked his Grandma.

“Well, we seem to have speeded up a bit,” replied Albert. 

“The driver is probably late for his lunch,” chuckled Big Tony. “Although I am sure I can smell a bacon sandwich in the air.”

Albert sniffed the air. 

“I can smell bacon too,” he said. 

The little mouse looked out of the window again. 

“No, something is most definitely wrong,” said Albert, and with that, he jumped off his seat. 

“Big Tony, come with me. I think we need to investigate this,” he said.

There was quite a bit of excitement in No. 10 Higher Street this morning. In fact, there hadn’t been this much excitement since Albert Mouse and Big Tony had helped the police catch the notorious smuggler called Mickey Mustard.

So what was the cause of all this excitement you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you. It was because Albert’s Grandma Bramble was coming to stay for Christmas and she was due to arrive this very day. Grandma Bramble lives all the way up in the Highlands of Scotland and the last time she visited Dartmouth was when Albert was born.

Albert stood on the kitchen chair and looked at the calendar that was attached to the fridge door. 

“Oh wow, a week today the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta starts!” said Albert, punching the air with his fist and sounding very excited. 

“What are you so excited about?” asked his sister Dorothy as she ate her cereals. “You don’t even have a boat.”

“Albert has a very important job this year, don’t you Albert?” said his mother as she washed the dishes.

“I certainly do. I have been asked to officially start one of the races if you must know,” said Albert, feeling very proud. 

“Anyone can say ready, steady, go,” sighed Dorothy, not sounding very impressed. 

“It’s more than saying ready, steady, go, Dorothy,” replied Albert. 

“Anyway, why have they asked you? You know nothing about boats,” said Dorothy. 

It is the summer and the biggest event on the Dartmouth calendar is the  Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta and no one is more excited about this than little Albert Mouse.

Albert sat on his windowsill, looking out onto the comings and goings of Higher Street. The little mouse sighed and looked very sad indeed. 

Even when children stood outside his gate and waved at him, it didn’t cheer him up.

Yes, poor little Albert was very sad, and it was all because his mother had said he could only keep his boat if he took swimming lessons. 

He had hoped that she would change her mind but as the days passed Albert realised this was never going to happen.

“What am I going to do?” he sighed.

Albert Mouse didn't really want to learn to swim, but he knew there was no alternative. But who was going to give him swimming lessons?

From Daisy:

"Thank you very much for the book, it was such an amazing surprise for me to be a part of the story, thank you. 

I’ve already finished reading it, I couldn’t put it down 😊 Well done Albert and Big Tony on learning how to swim. 

This book is fabulous, I give it 1000⭐️ .

Thanks again for including me in your children's book and for such a great story. I look forwards to telling all my friends about this book. 

Love Daisy 🏊 🐭 🐦" 

“Mum, do you think I could have a workshop?” he asked, looking up from the book.

Mrs Mouse put her knitting down and looked at her son over the rim of her glasses. 

“A workshop? What kind of workshop?” she asked, sounding slightly concerned. 

“You know, with a workbench and tools so I can make things out of wood?” sighed the little mouse. 

“Tools! No, Albert, that sounds like it could be dangerous if you ask me,” said his mother.

When Albert Mouse hears that Father Christmas has the biggest workshop in the world where all the toys are made for children at Christmas, Albert soon gets very excited. That night he dreams of going to Lapland to help Father Christmas .....

But is it a dream?

In this special Christmas Edition, Albert Mouse discovers that sometimes, dreams do come true!

The Mayor of Dartmouth has injured himself while playing rugby and has been ordered to rest by his doctor. Realising that he won't be able to go to work for several days, the Mayor does the only thing he can do - he sends for Albert Mouse.
While Albert is meeting the Mayor, his sister Dorothy somehow sends the residents of Dartmouth into panic and soon cards, flowers and fruit start to arrive at No.10 Higher Street addressed to Albert.
His mother becomes very confused but all she can do to wait until the little mouse returns home before she can find out what has been going on.

................

James Hywel Books are extremely honoured that Dartmouth Town Council has permitted us to use their emblem on the cover of this book.

This story was created by the pupils of Salcombe Church of England Primary School in Devon as part of the Albert Mouse Book for Schools Project. The pupils have also provided illustrations including the front cover.

This adventure involves chocolate, sea, a giant crab and Salcombe's famous ice cream!
Will Albert ever make it back to Dartmouth alive?

This wonderful book is available directly from Salcombe Primary School as well as via our own website store and Amazon.

This book was written by the pupils of Hallfield School in Birmingham as part of the Albert Mouse Book for Schools Project. The pupils also provided the illustrations including the front cover. 

Mickey Mustard has escaped from prison and is travelling to London to steal the King's Coronation Crown - unless Dartmouth's fa-mouse duo can stop him!

This book is being written by the pupils of Feniton Church of England Primary School in Devon as part of the Albert Mouse Book for Schools Project.

The pupils are also providing the illustrations including the front cover, which will be updated very soon. 

Albert has never been to a theme park and is understandably excited.