Mr Mouse Stories, by Elizabeth Booth, of Newark, published 50 years after being written

A book of children’s stories about a helpful mouse has been published more than 50 years after being written.

Elizabeth Booth, 72, wrote Mr Mouse Stories for children in the London nursery school where she trained.

She was 19 at the time, and wrote them under her maiden name of Elizabeth Hoole.

“We didn’t have any books suitable for the children I was trying to teach,” she said. “There was nothing exciting for them and I asked the headmistress if I could write my own stories.

“They were such a hit.”

Elizabeth said Mr Mouse was adventurous, kind and friendly, and always keen to help everybody out.

Pictures were produced by Ralph Nicholson, a friend of her brother. But when a publisher showed interest in the stories, they wanted to use different illustrations, so Elizabeth refused.

The original illustrations feature in the book that has just been published, although Elizabeth has lost touch with Ralph now.

Elizabeth, who has lived in Newark for 33 years, became a tutor with the Nottingham-based Dyslexia Association.

After retiring because of ill health, it was during a hypnotherapy session that the Mr Mouse Stories were mentioned and, through a publishing connection of the therapist, a publisher was found ­— by coincidence, in Sweden, where her son and grandchildren live.

“I never felt the stories were good enough to be published, but now there is even talk of a sequel,” she said.

Mr Mouse Stories is available from bookshops, including The Bookcase at Lowdham, and online.