Miika has more friends than most mice. He has The Truth Pixie, local elves, Blitzen the Reindeer and Nikolas the human. His one mouse friend is Bridget the Brave. He’s not sure why she calls herself that (no one else does), but he enjoys having mouse company. Bridget is a bit bossy but does seem to know a lot about a lot of things. Miika wonders if she’s telling the truth all the time but never questions it because he wants to keep her mouse friendship.

After spending some time with Bridget one day, Miika is on his way home. Bridget had told him he wasn’t a brave mouse like her, and it had stuck in his mind. So much in fact, when an opportunity comes where he can actually be brave, he takes it – with terrible consequences. He ends up tumbling from the sky!

His last thoughts are of an amazing type of cheese Bridget had told him about. It’s called Urga-Burga cheese, and as he falls through the sky he knew he would never taste the cheese Bridget said was the very BEST in the world.

But both of them are wrong! Miika hasn’t been a lucky mouse in his life, but luck is with him this day. By pure chance, he is drimwicked. What is drimwicked? It’s a very special kind of magic, that you will have to read about in Miika’s story, but I will say, it saves his life, then gets him and the local town and townspeople in terrible trouble.

Miika must make a choice between being brave or greedy, and the difference between good friends or bad. He must find the courage that Bridget said he never had.

What a great story! Miika has many friends but a mouse friend called Bridget is extra special to Miika. But Bridget is not the kind of friend one needs, calling Miika names, making him feel small (even smaller than a mouse), and leading Miika into terrible trouble. This friend is the toxic type, and Miika has to discover this on his own.

This situation happens in schools and communities all around the world, and unfortunately has done since forever. A Mouse called Miika  highlights this dilemma wonderfully within magic, animals, humour and very, very smelly cheese.

Chris Mould’s illustrations throughout are clever, funny and scary where they need to be – capturing the action and emotion in the story.  Haig and Mould together are pure magic!  

Author – Matt Haig

Illustrator – Chris Mould

Age – 7+

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(2021, Allen & Unwin, Mouse, Toxic Friendship, Jealousy, True Friends, Responsibility, Trolls, Elves, Truth, Action, Adventure, Animals, Bullies, Courage, Crime, Friendship, Greed, Humour, Magic, Secret)