Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher (author) and Sam Usher (illustrator)

A timeless tale of courage, resistance and friendship, The Umbrella Mouse is a heart-stopping adventure drawing on the true stories of animals caught in the conflict of WWII, winner of the 2019 Sainsbury’s Book Prize for Fiction and selected for Waterstones Book of the Month.

1944, and London is under attack. Young mouse Pip Hanway’s safe and quiet world is turned upside down when her home, umbrella shop James Smith & Sons, is destroyed by a bomb. Orphaned and alone, she must begin a perilous quest to find a new home.

But the only way to get there is by joining Noah’s Ark, a secret gang of animals fighting with the resistance in France, operating beneath the feet of the human soldiers. Danger is everywhere and as the enemy closes in, Pip must risk everything to save her new friends.

Beautifully illustrated by Sam Usher, Anna Fargher’s debut novel takes you on an incredible journey through a war that reaches even the smallest of creatures.

‘An ambitious and wonderfully well-achieved first novel’ Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse.

‘A spellbinding tale of bravery and hope, where courage is found in the smallest of heroes’ Gill Lewis, author of Sky Hawk.