The Church Mice and the Ring

The Church Mice #10

by Graham Oakley

Despite the objections of Sampson, the church cat, the Church Mice take in a homeless dog named Percy, an act of kindness that leads to a hilarious adventure involving a jail break, a diamond ring, a confrontation with a jackdaw, and other mishaps. All ages.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Animals, Adventure, Fiction, Cats

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Graham Oakley is a children's book author and illustrator, most active during the 1960s to 1980s. He is best known for the Church Mice series and also illustrated many book covers in the 60s.

For the current UK author of children's books at Top That! press see Graham Oakley.

Reviews

[Jill]

Super awesome, it’s like a blast from the past. Mom read the church mice series to my siblings and me growing up, but there are several new books I’ve not tried before and this is one of them. Managed to get it via Interlibrary loan as amazon prices are ridiculous. The story is cute, there’s several “oh no they didn’t” moments and GREAT artwork. I’m jealous of the illustration style. Each CM book is stand alone. Well worth reading if you see them anywhere!

[Andrea]

A very sweet story, but the illustrations are what really make it. Besides being lovely and very detailed, the illustrations tell part of the story, so if you don't look at the pictures properly, you'll miss some of what's going on.

[Anthony]

When Humphrey and the church mice take in a stray dog named Percy, they come up with a plan to find him a home. Sampson forewarns them of the difficulties ahead to accomplish this task, but joins them in this adventure.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I found the advanced humor at odds with the illustrations.

[Kate]

Brilliant!

[Melissa Koser]

It's a fun story, and paired with the art it's just fantastic. I can't wait to find and read the other in the series!

[Suzie]

The kids loved my British accent as I read this. ;-) Cute story. Enjoyed how the pictures alone told some of the tale. I also liked the vocabulary - I learned several new words!

[Lisa Rector]

Loved these books as a kid!

[Amy Edwards]

This is a fun read-aloud picture book. Lines like, "Percy said that risking lives was all very well for a cat because if he loses one, he's got eight spares, but a chap who's only got one life has to be jolly economical with it," or, "They borrowed the parson's stole...the lucky mice who'd managed to hitch a ride chanted 'We stole a stole' all the way to the top [of the church tower] just to screw up their courage."

The story is advanced as much by the pictures as the text. In fact, several pages have panels of illustration that depict critical elements of the plot. Wordless picture books flummox me, but this has just enough of that for my kids to fill in the action with their words, but plenty of text for me to read as well.

[LJ]

A later edition to the Church Mice series, this is one of the four that I owned as a child. It was the only one that I got new (probably when I was nine or ten, so while I still really enjoyed it, I was not as attached to it as the ones that I had 'grown up' with). The plot involves the mice trying to convince a rich family to adopt a stray dog (so that he stops eating all their food), by coming up with a diamond heist. It's not one of my most favourite of the series but equally there's nothing weak about it either; it is witty, beautiful, clever and absorbing.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance]

Where has this book been all my life? I’m adding it to my list of favorite reads ever. Very believable characters (okay, I can hear you snickering…yes, these are talking mice and dogs and cats, but, trust me, they are very believable.) A hilarious sense of doom confronts these characters, doom yet also salvation. Fun illustrations…clever story…oh, I don’t know why, but I just loved this story.

[Eyehavenofilter]

Humphrey the " head mouse" is off on a tangent about the ozone layer when he gets distracted by percy the scruffy homeless dog. Dampson our intrepid hero cat doesn't particularly like the dog and hyjinks ensue. This is an adorably illustrated story that any child or adult will enjoy. I couldn't wait to jump into the next one

[Tweedledum]

I love the Church mice books with their far fetched and endearing anthropomorphic characters. In this story Poor Sansom is rather upset when the mice invite an abandoned puppy to stay. Humphrey's ideas for finding the puppy a home are more and more reckless but alls well that ends well. Lovely illustrations as always.

[Barbara]

The church mice kindly invite a stray dog who has been dumped by his owners to stay with them in the vestry - and then regret their invitation when they realise the size of his appetite! Many a cunning plan is hatched to find him a new home...
As always, the illustrations are wonderful and the story hilarious. Read aloud fun for children that is fun for adults too!

[Catherine]

Max and I are both enjoying this series. I just wish more of the books were still in print.

[Beverly]

great series about church mice and a church cat

[JoAnn Arnold]

I love Graham Oakley's illustrations. They are at least half of the story and you always find something more each time you look at them.

[Terri]

Hysterically funny at all levels.