Stink Files, Dossier 001: The Postman Always Brings Mice, The

The Stink Files #Dossier 001

by Holm & Hamel, Brad Weinman (Illustrator)

James Edward Bristlefur is having a very bad time.Raised in London by a British secret agent, this international cat of mystery has traveled the world, foiled conspiracies thicker than cream, and rooted out evildoers wherever he and his human found them. But when he tries to follow the trail of a mysterious assassin to Norway, things go horribly, horribly wrong. To James's shock, a baggage mix-up delivers him to an animal shelter . . . in New Jersey! Even worse, an ordinary suburban boy takes him home and names him Mr. Stink. Oh, the humiliation!At first his only goal is to escape and return to the world of top-secret intrigue. But soon he finds that the long paw of evil reaches all the way to America. As every spy knows, things are rarely what they seem. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Animals, Childrens, Fantasy, Humor, Espionage, Fiction

129 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jen]

Not bad. Cute book. I like how “Mr. Stinky” made friends with the animals in his neighborhood and used those connections to help “his boy”. The title actually had something to do with the plot, which was pretty cool. Good for a younger middle reader who is an animal lover. Props for mentioning how bad declawing a cat is. Important information for anyone to know. (It’s basically amputating the cats fingers at the knuckle. So horrible thing to do. We didn’t know for our first cat. We never made that mistake again. He didn’t hold it against us though. He was a gem. Still miss him.) 3 solid stars. Onto the next in the series!

[Michelle F]

Aristocatic (heh heh) spy cat James Edward Bristlefur is outwitted, uprooted and renamed as the result of the intrigues of a mysterious assassin. He lands in a suburban American home, where despite his best efforts, he gets caught up new hijinks and realises that he may still be a target.

This is a good fun read. As an adult who read this (entirely and unashamedly) for my own enjoyment, I could wish that there was more to the story, and that the characters were not so one-dimensional. On the other hand, I can allow for the fact that I am not the intended audience of every single book written, and that my minor complaints probably are of things that make the story more enjoyable to the kids it was meant for. (Trying to read The Chronicles of Narnia with a seven year old was NOT the magical experience I hoped it would be, truth be told.) Dossier 001 is a light, straight forward read where good is good, bad is bad, evil is vanquished and lessons are learned, all in an afternoon's exciting read.

Plus, Cats as heroes!

[Kathleen]

James Edward Bristlefur (aka Mr.Stink) is not your run-of-the-mill domestic cat. He is a secret agent who works side-by-side with his owner, Sir Archibald, the director of Britain's most secret counterspy bureau "MI9". Sir Archibald is poisoned and James immediately sets out to uncover the truth behind his owner's demise. Great cat & spy humor (a la James Bond). Some of the humor will be above the intermediate elementary audience the book is written for. However, that will not detract from the tale for them in any way. (It only makes it more pleasurable as an adult reading it.) My 11 year old polished this off in a day and is eagerly requesting book 2, also cleverly titled To Scratch a Thief.

[Ann]

Jennifer Holm has certainly written a variety of genres. I enjoyed her historical fiction (BOSTON JANE and OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA). This book, co-written with her husband, is a fun read for 7-12 year-olds. Written with a healthy dose of humor, this adventure of an international spy cat is age-appropriate and brings up everyday issues (like bullies, standing up for friends and oneself) to which kids could relate.

[Tara]

This is the first time in a while I’ve read a paper book. It was great. I enjoyed the main character, a British cat named Stink, who has been trained as a spy but is displaced when his human is murdered. I also really enjoyed the illustrations. It’s a fun book.

[H. Givens]

The human family has no idea how to treat a cat and it's infuriating. Other than that, a well-written book with a great cat.

[Hugh Smalley]

James Edward Bristlefur is having a very bad time. Raised in London by a British secret agent, this international cat of mystery has traveled the world, foiled conspiracies thicker than cream, and rooted out evildoers wherever he and his human found them. But when he tries to follow the trail of a mysterious assassin to Norway, things go horribly, horribly wrong. To James's shock, a baggage mix-up delivers him to an animal shelter . . . in New Jersey Even worse, an ordinary suburban boy takes him home and names him Mr. Stink. Oh, the humiliation At first his only goal is to escape and return to the world of top-secret intrigue. But soon he finds that the long paw of evil reaches all the way to America. As every spy knows, things are rarely what they seem. . . .

[Dolly]

This is the first book in The Stink Files series by Jennifer L. Holm and Jonathan Hamel. It's a fun, fast read and has a nice mixture of animal quirkiness and espionage intrigue.

Our oldest and I read this book independently. She's a big fan of 'spy' books right now, so it really fit the bill. We'll be looking for the next book in the series at our local library soon.

[Tiffany]

I am not a fan of mice and this book really put them to work. It was a crafty story and I liked the way the whole story worked together. The book kept the niece and I going.

The ending was awesome - makes you want to hurry up and read the next one. Liked the action. Liked the good versus the evil. Loved the personality of the cat. Really hope that a few of the characters that we met in book one are in future books.

[Karen Arendt]

I liked this story. It started out with a touch of black noir mystery which I liked. Then the cat ends up in the United States and is adopted by a boy who has some bullying issues. That was another to like to book- empathy for the characters. A nice story for a sensitive 2nd or 3rd grader or anyone who likes cats.

[Vidula]

This I just picked up as a go to bed read, as it is very slim, but it is a third grade memory for me. I read this in 3rd grade for AR and I remember it being my first AR quiz. This book was funny and well written and I just ha dso much fun reading it! Yeah, I know, it's like level 3.5 but whatever! Just a fuun and enjoyable book.

[Nicole Bishop]

I bought this and the second in the series for my niece and couldn't resist taking a look. It's cute, perfect for a seven year old who wants pets and thinks cats are naturally sneaky anyways. The classic spy references are a brief smile for the adults and the the cooperation among all the species of animals is fun for kids.

[Jen]

Fun series, although some of the British and spy references might go right over the heads of the intended audience. A cat's spy owner is murdered, and he's off to find the killer. Very funny cat humor included.

[Miss Manekofsky]

I am starting this tonight as I keep hearing this book is entertaining....we shall see!

Finished this one last week - I like cats (though not a crazy cat lady) and so I enjoyed this one. (My cat did too:))

[Dexter]

Words cannot express how much I love Mr. Stink. Everything about it is brilliant, from the British main character to the family he finds himself in to the alleycats he encounters to the next door dog to the mice to the villains. It's just perfect.

[Nikki]

Stink Files... I read like 2yrs ago, it was WAY good!

[Cheri]

Good solution to a bully problem!

[Mackenzie]

I read this when i was like in fourth grad i found it was amusing... i loved the talking,spy, mystery solving cat.

[Barbara]

Read with Rachael,my grand daughter, and she love it. It was a fun read.

[Heather]

A realy good book that i will read again.

[Sharon Buxton]

B. children's fiction, mystery, grade 3

[Kayla]

great series i recommend it to everyone who likes adventure.

[Anna]

I'm pretty sure I read this when I was younger but I reread it today and it was really good :)

[Kathryn Winkler]

My boys loved the story and were asking if there were more. We looked but have not found any yet. The story was perfect for our young boys ~ adventure, good guys and bad guys, spies ~ all the stuff that they eat up.