Hermelin

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Hermelin is a noticer. He is also a finder. The occupants of Offley Street are delighted when their missing items are found, but not so happy to learn that their brilliant detective is a mouse! What will happen to Hermelin? Will his talents go unrewarded?

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Write your own story about an animal that is a detective.
• Retell the story from Emily’s point of view.
• Create an advert to promote Crunchy Flakes (or Bosher’s Sausage Shop).
• If you were a mouse and you could type, what messages or letters would you write?
• Look at the collection of books and notes in Hermelin’s attic. How many different kinds of text can you think of?
• Create a new note to add to the Offley Street Noticeboard.
• Write a newspaper article about the disappearance of items in Offley Street.
• Write your own newspaper article (or create a radio / video report) about the dramatic rescue of Baby McMumbo.
• Hermelin looks for the definition of ‘mouse’ in the dictionary. Could you use a dictionary to find the meanings of unfamiliar words? Could you write your own dictionary definitions for different words?
• Hermelin sees the words ‘unclean’, ‘unhygienic’ and ‘unwanted’ in the dictionary definition for ‘mouse’. Can you think of other words with the prefix ‘un-‘? Could you make a poster / chart that shows words with other prefixes.
• Some people think that mice are ‘pests’. Can you create a new story about a pest that becomes a hero?
• At the end of the story, there is a piece of paper in the typewriter. Can you write a story about ‘The Mystery of the Missing Moggies’?

Science

• Hermelin has some binoculars. How do these work? Can you describe how we are able to see things? How do our eyes work?
• The dictionary definition of ‘mouse’ shows that Hermelin is a ‘pest’. What other creatures are thought of as pests?
• At the end of the story, Hermelin and Emily work together to solve crimes. Can you think of ways that animals help humans to achieve different tasks?

Computing

• Look at the typewriter on the front cover. Are the letters in the same order as a modern computer keyboard? Can you use a typing game to improve your own typing speed? Could you complete our blank keyboard templates?
• Could you record and edit a video review of this book? Here is an example:

Design Technology

• Design and build some paper aeroplanes that Hermelin could use to send a message quickly. Could you have a competition to see which paper aeroplane will fly the furthest?
• This post on the author’s blog shows how packaging has inspired the covers of some of her books. Can you look at different types of packaging and think about the materials that were used? Could these inspire some of your own book covers?

Art

• Create a storyboard that shows the main events in a movie about Hermelin.

Geography

• Hermelin is a type of cheese from the Czech Republic. Can you find out more about this country and write a report about it?
• Look at the foods in your lunch box (or on your dinner menu). What do the ingredients come from? Could you plot these on a map? How might they travel around the world to reach your table?
• Could you make a map of Offley Street (and add some places around the local area)?