Stuart Little is the enchanting tale of a New York family and their acceptance of their son, a talking mouse. A well-loved American children's book, it was written by E.B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams more than half a century ago. Delightfully, if bizarrely, in the original book Mrs. Little actually gives birth to a small, mouse-like child. The 1999 film of the same name disappointed fans of the book by reinventing Stuart as an adopted son, neatly sidestepping the issue. The success of the CGI Stuart, voiced by Michael J. Fox, has spawned 7 new books and a few videogames. This is the third, and it follows the story of the irrepressible young mouse as he goes on a Manhattan adventure.After his brother, George, loses his photography project in a freak accident, the little mouse vows to save the day by using his diminutive size to his advantage and running around taking all the pictures again. It turns out to be a far more exciting story than you might think, and Stuart finds himself at the helm of a speedboat, riding a stunt motorbike, piloting a helicopter, and commanding a tank. Even better, the little chap gets the opportunity to indulge in a little fancy dress on the way, with a Native American and fireman's costume amongst his new wardrobe. These uniforms also endow young Master Little with special powers.Very exciting indeed, but we are left wondering what E.B. White, who described Stuart as having the'shy, pleasant manner of a mouse', would have made of all this. You might be surprised to know that not all people took to his creation when the book was first published. A certain, unrelated, Stuart Little wrote to the author incandescent with rage, vowing to write his own story about a rat called E.B. White! This great work is, alas, lost to antiquity.