Tyrannosaurx Publishing

Picture-book series · Ages 3–7 · Made for reading aloud

The Mice in the Next Bay

Under a fallen log on Ponui Island, seven mice face one very big problem at a time. Mr. Seagull helps them. Mr. Hawk hunts them.

Written by
Paul Chamberlin
Original stories by
Frederick Chamberlin
Watercolour of a Ponui bay with red pōhutukawa above a pale beach, green farmland and turquoise water.
Watercolour of Ponui Island, with a turquoise bay between green headlands and red pōhutukawa on the ridge.

From the Next Bay

Before they belonged to a book, the mice of the next bay belonged to the Chamberlin family.

Frederick Chamberlin first dreamed up their adventures and told them to his five children. The stories were set on Ponui Island, also known as Chamberlins Island, where every hill, beach, and bend in the shore seemed to leave room for a little mouse and a very big adventure.

The stories were not fixed on a page. They lived in the telling. His children carried them forward to their own children, who grew up hearing them at bedtime. As each new generation began families of its own, the tales were shared again with children and grandchildren.

For generations, the stories traveled from one voice to the next and from one bedside to another. This series gives them a home on the page, not to replace the way they were told, but to carry it forward.

Now the mice of the next bay are ready to wander beyond the Chamberlin family and become part of yours.

Original stories by Frederick Chamberlin

A real island

Around twenty named bays fit into roughly eighteen square kilometres of Ponui, so “the next bay” is literal, not a figure of speech.

Watercolour of the mice’s mossy fallen-log home beneath a red-flowering pōhutukawa beside the bay.

Home is a fallen log

The mice live beneath a fallen log in the next bay. It is the place every story leaves from and comes home to.

Ponui is also known as Chamberlins Island. The Chamberlin family has farmed it since 1854, which is why these stories know exactly where they belong.

Christmas comes in summer here. That is when the pōhutukawa turns the bay red.

The family

Three generations share the log: two grandparents, two parents, two brothers and one very small Baby.

Watercolour lineup of the seven mice: Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother holding Baby, Long-tail and the smaller Short-tail.
Watercolour studies of Short-tail, a small brown mouse in a rust-orange vest, shown from several angles.

The younger brother

Short-tail

The younger, smaller brother, in a rust-orange vest. An oyster shell took only the end of his tail when he was little. Most of it remains, with a healed blunt tip. He wears the scar as a badge of honour.

Watercolour study of Long-tail, the taller brown mouse in a teal-green vest, with his pale-pink tail behind him.

The older brother

Long-tail

The older, bigger brother, in a teal-green vest. His pale-pink tail is only slightly longer than an ordinary mouse’s, but that is long enough to earn the name.

Watercolour expression studies of Baby Mouse in a cream knitted bonnet and onesie.

The youngest

Baby

The tiniest mouse under the log. In Book One, Baby toddles into the open at exactly the wrong moment and gives the family its biggest fright.

Watercolour studies of Mother Mouse in a floral pinafore, standing, holding Baby and reaching out.

Parent

Mother Mouse

Mother to Short-tail, Long-tail and Baby, in her floral pinafore. When Mr. Hawk dives for Baby, hers is the voice that answers first: “Not my Baby!”

Watercolour studies of Father Mouse in a blue-grey waistcoat, standing, pointing and stepping back.

Parent

Father Mouse

Father to Short-tail, Long-tail and Baby, in a blue-grey waistcoat. When the big feet arrive, he shouts the warning that gives Book One its name.

Watercolour turnaround studies of Grandmother Mouse in spectacles, a rose shawl and an apron, holding her knitting.

Grandparent

Grandmother Mouse

One of the two grandparents, in a rose shawl, apron and small spectacles. She calls the bay peaceful at the start of Book One and gives its warning a new meaning at the end.

Watercolour turnaround studies of Grandfather Mouse in spectacles and a mustard knitted vest, with his walking stick.

Grandparent

Grandfather Mouse

One of the two grandparents, in a mustard knitted vest and round spectacles, with a walking stick close by. He begins Book One asleep in the warm grass, which is a respectable response to a peaceful morning.

The rest of the bay

Every animal in these stories belongs to the real island.

Watercolour study of a small grey Ponui donkey wearing a red neckerchief.

A friend · The Ponui donkey

Mr. Donkey

New Zealand’s only feral donkey breed lives on Ponui and nowhere else. Small for a donkey, he is still enormous beside a mouse. In Book One, four frightening feet become the safest place in the bay.

Watercolour studies of a red-billed gull in a striped cap, standing and in flight.

A friend · Red-billed gull · tarāpunga

Mr. Seagull

The family’s friend in the air and along the shore. His red bill and legs make him easy to spot. He keeps watch, carries news and sees Mr. Hawk coming.

Watercolour studies of a brown swamp harrier on a branch and in flight.

The danger · Swamp harrier · kāhu

Mr. Hawk

The real Ponui mouse-hunter. He flies low and quiet over the grass, then drops. He menaces. He does not traumatise.

Watercolour studies of a silvery-grey tabby cat in a neckerchief, standing and seated.

A friend · Wild cat

Silver

A fierce wild cat who is a friend to the mice and dangerous to anything that threatens them. Silver is the outsider who chose this family, and the only character with a proper name.

Watercolour of a Ponui brown kiwi foraging by moonlight among ferns.

A neighbour · Ponui brown kiwi

Mrs. Kiwi

Shy, gentle and enormous by mouse standards. She is a devoted mother with eggs to protect, and a source of wonder for the family.

And one human, who has no idea

Farmer David works Ponui, where the Chamberlin family has farmed since 1854. His motorbike roars, his dogs follow and his boat is the island’s one link to the mainland. He has no idea the mice exist.

Watercolour of Farmer David scratching the ears of the small grey Ponui donkey beside the bay.

Farmer David and Mr. Donkey. The farmer knows the donkey. He does not know the mice.

Watercolour of Farmer David riding a farm motorbike above the bay with four working dogs alongside.
The motorbike and the farm dogs. At mouse height, both are weather.
Watercolour of Farmer David at the wheel of a small barge, steering for the island with sheep and four farm dogs on deck.
Farmer David’s boat is the only way on or off the island. One day, two mice will stow away on it.

Book one

The first of ten stories in the opening slate. Currently in production.

Mind the Big Feet!

BOOM! A giant donkey has arrived in the next bay.

The mouse family is certain his enormous feet spell trouble. But when Baby wanders into the open and Mr. Hawk swoops from the sky, the stranger they fear becomes the friend they need.

Set on Ponui Island, New Zealand, Mind the Big Feet! is a warm watercolor picture-book adventure about courage, kindness, and looking beyond first impressions. The first story in The Mice in the Next Bay series, it is made for read-aloud sharing with children ages three to seven.

A line to shout together

“Mind the big feet!”

First a warning. By the last page, a cheer.

Reading age
Ages 3–7 · Preschool–Grade 2
Format
Picture book · 14 spreads · 32 pages
Trim
8.25 × 8.25 in
Text
About 450 words · written to be read aloud
ISBN
979-8-9972852-0-3 (paperback)
Status
First edition in production

Not on sale yet. Publication details will appear here when the first edition is released.

Sepia composition study of the donkey in a paddock, with the mice represented by simple shapes to establish their positions and scale.
Before a spread becomes a finished watercolour, the camera, scale and positions are settled. The mice stand in as simple shapes until the staging works.

The slate

10 stories. One challenge in each. This is the starting set, not the limit.

  1. Mind the Big Feet!

    A giant donkey arrives in the bay, and the mice are certain he is a monster. Then Mr. Hawk dives for Baby, and the stranger becomes their shelter.

    In production

  2. The Log That Wouldn’t Stay Dry

    A Hauraki Gulf storm floods the log at high tide. The family must get Baby and the Grandparents to high ground and save their home.

    Story idea

  3. Under the Hawk’s Shadow

    The seeds they need lie across open grass, and Mr. Hawk is flying low all day. The family must find a way across without being caught.

    Story idea

  4. Where’s Baby?

    Baby wanders towards the next bay and is lost before nightfall. The family must find Baby before Mr. Hawk does.

    Story idea

  5. The Cat Called Silver

    A fierce wild cat prowls the bay. The mice must discover that Silver is not their enemy, but their fiercest friend.

    Story idea

  6. The Bird in the Dark

    At night, the family finds a shy, enormous kiwi in trouble. The tiniest animals on the island must help her.

    Story idea

  7. The Red Christmas Tree

    The pōhutukawa is red for a summer Christmas, and the perfect blossom for Grandmother hangs from the most dangerous branch.

    Story idea

  8. How Short-tail Lost His Tail

    At low tide, a curious young mouse meets a snapping oyster shell and learns to wear the scar as a badge of honour.

    Story idea

  9. Mrs. Kiwi’s Eggs

    Mrs. Kiwi must leave her eggs while Mr. Hawk is circling. Short-tail and Long-tail stand guard until she returns.

    Story idea

  10. The Trip to the City

    Two mice stow away on Farmer David’s boat, then have to cross a very large city and catch the boat home.

    Story idea