Henry

By Gwen Edwards

Henry is a very brave little mouse who can do somersaults over loaded mousetraps without even catching his tail. He also needs some excitement in his life and has many adventures. When Mrs. Hunter starts baking, the aroma coming from the kitchen window nearly drives Henry crazy, and he decides to risk anything to taste Mrs. Hunter's freshly baked bread.
Does Henry ever taste the bread he so desires?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Feb 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645365471

Gwen Edwards

Gwen Edwards lives in Tasmania and is devoted to her family. She has worked in children's libraries for many years and has a strong interest in children's literature. Her hobbies are writing children's books, gardening, and walking, which she does on the beach most days.

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Bully

About The Author

Gwen Edwards lives in Tasmania and is devoted to her family. She has worked in children’s libraries for many years and has a strong interest in children’s literature. Her hobbies are writing children’s books, gardening, and walking, which she does on the beach most days.

Dedication

To my family, especially Peter and Julie, for believing in me and helping me achieve my dream.

Copyright Information ©

Gwen Edwards (2020)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloguing-in-Publication data

Edwards, Gwen

Henry

ISBN 9781643788784 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781643788777 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781645365471 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020900724

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 28th Floor

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgement

To Lyn Jones, for your encouragement, support, and tireless effort of reading Henry’s adventures and making me realize there was more than one adventure this little mouse was going to have.

Adventure Number 1

Henry Meets the Hunter Family

Mr. Hunter stopped the car so the children could open the gate to their new home. They were so excited that they ran all the way up the dirt road to the farmhouse. The house had not been lived in for a few years and the family were looking forward to making the old house their new home. When Lily and Sam ran onto the front verandah, they made such a noise that the mice that lived in the house scattered everywhere.

The children helped their parents to unpack the car and while they were waiting for the truck to arrive with their furniture, they went exploring. They ran through the house looking in every room and they saw a family of mice scurry across the lounge room floor into the kitchen. When the children told their father about the mice, he said that they would have to set some mousetraps if the cat could not catch them. The mice thought it would be much safer to move out to the old barn now that the house was being lived-in again.

The family soon unpacked and settled into the old farmhouse. They were all looking forward to living in the country and the children were also excited about going to a country school.

After a few days, Henry, who was a very brave little mouse, decided to sneak into the house and have a look around.

He was very curious about the new family. Mrs. Hunter was baking bread and the smell of the fresh bread nearly drove Henry crazy. He really did like a good piece of cheese and he just loved fresh-baked bread. It had been a long time since Henry had smelt anything quite as good as the bread that was now baking in the oven.

When Henry scampered into the kitchen, he was surprised to see the cat sitting near the pantry door. The cat saw Henry and pounced at him. Thank goodness, Henry was too quick and managed to escape. He told the other mice about the cat and warned them to be very careful. However, secretly he planned to go back to the house the very next day. He was determined to have some of Mrs. Hunter’s fresh bread, even if it was only a few crumbs.

Early the next morning, Henry saw the cat laying in the sun on the front verandah and decided now would be a good time to sneak into the house to have a look around, as long as he could sneak by the cat without waking him. When he peeped around the corner into the kitchen, he saw that Mr. Hunter had set a mousetrap on the kitchen floor.

Henry was so clever that he could do handstands and double somersaults across loaded mousetraps without even catching his tail. He thought while there was no one in the house, he would have a bit of fun.

He was not quite as fit as he used to be and being a little bit fatter did not stop him. He was having such a good time that he did not even notice that Lily and Sam had come into the kitchen and were now watching him. When he saw them, he ran into the mouse hole near the pantry and was soon outside the house. His heart was thumping very fast. He had to admit that he was a little bit scared when he saw the children watching him. However, he knew they would think that he was very clever.

He ran back to the barn to tell his family about his adventure. They begged and pleaded with him not to go back into the house now as there was a family living there. Henry decided in future he would not tell any of his family about his adventures as they were always asking him to be careful, and after all, he was a very adventurous little mouse and he did like a lot of excitement in his life.

In the days that followed, Henry took every chance he could to sneak back into the house when his family were not looking and he even did his tricks a few more times for the children.

The children tried to tell their parents about Henry and how clever he was. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter did not believe that a mouse could do the things the children were saying. Lily and Sam decided they would try to catch Henry so their parents could see for themselves how clever he really was.

They tried all sorts of things to catch Henry. Once they nearly caught him in a butterfly net but Lily giggled and he ran away. One day, Sam put some cheese in an old birdcage that he had found out in the barn hoping to entice Henry into the cage. That day when Henry smelt the cheese, he could not resist the urge to just have a nibble before he went home. Once he was inside the cage, he heard