Time stops for no Mouse by Michael Hoeye

This post originally appeared on my blog in 2012.

My library motto is “Read only on the days you eat”. Thanks to the Alberta Elementary School library where I spied this in written on a huge bulletin board 1994. This seems a perfect way to start talking about Time stops for no Mouse by Michael Hoeye. Read, yes EVERYONE should read this book! – Read only on the days - yes make TIME to read every day! Eat! This book is delicious – it is so good you will want to eat it up in one sitting, read it twice as I just have and as an added bonus it is filled with delicious food and absolutely delicious characters with fabulous names like our hero Hermux Tantamoq.

Hermux is a watch maker. One morning a new customer arrives with a badly damaged wristwatch. Her name is Linka Perflinger and she explains to Hermux that she cannot exist without her watch. It must be repaired quickly. Hermux promises the watch will be ready the next day by 12 noon even though the repairs will be difficult and intricate but, as you may have already guessed, Linka does not arrive to collect her watch. This is the start of a wild adventure for Hermux involving the evil Hiril Mennus, the crazy Tucka Mertslin and his special friend Mirrin Stentrill. I should probably mention Hermux is a mouse and the other characters are assorted rats, moles, stoats and so on. There is also one very special lady beetle called Terfle.

One part of this book that I especially like is the descriptions of the characters – here are a couple of samples.

Linka
“Her face was set in a sharp frown, but it was such a jolly bright face that the frown looked out of place. She wore no make-up. Just her natural fur. A dark glossy brown. She had on a red cap with a bright green feather in its brim, a jaunty, checked scarf, and a somewhat worn looking leather flight jacket.”

Tucka
“Tucka’s cheeks were dusted with a fine orange powder that gave her the appearance of being on fire. The whiskers above her smallish eyes had been extended so dramatically that they bobbed about like antennae nearly tangling in the ribbons. Her lips were drawn coal black, shiny and glistening. She smiled at him dangerously.”

I really love so many aspects of this book but there are two more things I need to mention. I adore Hermux’s clothes and colour sense and Michael Hoeye really allows his readers to see each scene. You will feel like you have been to the watch shop, the lobby of Hermux’s apartment as Tucka remodels it, the health farm bungalow run by the evil Dr Mennus and the home of Linka after it has been ransacked. You will also see every colour and smell every smell through Hermux's senses.

There are three sequels to Time stops for no Mouse – The Sands of time, No time like showtime and Time to smell the roses and I enjoyed all of them. If you have read The Mysterious Benedict Society then you will love Time Stops for no mouse. You might also look for Tuck everlasting which explores the idea of eternal youth in a more sophisticated way.

Listen to an extract here. Here is an interview with Michael Hoeye.

I first read this book in 2001. I posted here in 2012 and today I am revisiting this post because I have just spent a delightful few hours re-reading Time stops for no Mouse all over again. For me this is one of my top books of all time. It is a five out of five or ten out of ten book.

Here are some food and clothing descriptions:

"He unwrapped his sandwich and bit into it greedily. The cheese was sharp and tangy with just a musky hint of mould. The bread was fresh and piled with fresh, crisp and spicy lettuce. ... he uncapped the honey fizz and downed a healthy swig of it."

"Hermux removed his blue rubber clogs and pulled off his orange argyle socks. He unsnapped his cherry red corduroy overalls and stepped out of them. He pulled his golden yellow turtleneck over his head. And stood there in his flannel boxer shorts printed all over with furry black bumblebees."

I have included three covers above.  I like the one with the clock. I do wish they (the publisher) would reprint Time Stops for no Mouse and the sequels and add illustrations. A full colour illustrated version of this book would be so fabulous. I was interested to read Michael Hoeye self published this book with just 1000 copies before it was picked up by Penguin. Even though this book is from 2001 it is still in print but you may have to search in a library to find the later sequels.

Mouse-loving fans of Brian Jacques' Redwall, Beverly Cleary's Ralph S. Mouse series, and Avi's Poppy are going to be in heaven with Hermux. James Patterson Read Kiddo Read