Similarly, Jill Barklem, has created a magical feel-good world of mice in her popular "Brambley Hedge" books. They are eight in number & deal with a birthday picnic for Wilfred, a wedding of Poppy & Dusty, the adventurous discovery of a maze of tunnels by Primrose, a Snow Ball in the Ice Hall, the discovery of a secret staircase by Primrose & Wilfred & subsequent mid-winter celebrations by them in the grand costumes found in the magnificent room at the top of the staircase, a trip to the High Hills to deliver blankets to the needy Voles, a journey on boat along a river to fetch salt from the Saltapple mice & ending with a surprise gift of a new house for Poppy & her babies.
As Jill Barklem says in her introduction, creating the books was very hard work as she made sure that each flower must have the correct number of petals & be growing in the right place at the right time. Everything the mice make or do must be possible for them, living where they do.
The result is there for all to see, a meticulously detailed world, (reminiscent of the art of Brueghel), lovingly created, free from all unpleasantness & an unalloyed visual delight. The popularity of these books is also attested by a range of china, named after them.
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