Feb. 5th, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Emirates Festival of Literature 2026: Hartland International School!
I've recently returned from a trip to Dubai, my fourth visit there for the Emirates Festival of Literature, and I was going to write one blog post about the whole visit. Except I quickly realised that a particular Adventuremice school visit was going to need the space of its own post to do it justice! This was a visit to Hartland International School by Philip Reeve and me, accompanied by Maleeha Saad from the festival's Reading for Pleasure team.
Philip and I have both visited many schools, and occasionally we encounter a school with a dynamic school librarian or a teacher who absolutely understands how to communicate a love of reading to their children. They prepare the children for months in advance of a visit by an author, and by the time the author arrives, the children have read the author's books and are excited to meet them. Hartland is one of the best-ever examples we've encountered; when we arrived at the school, the children, staff and parents made us feel like rock stars!
Let's start with this incredible big mural of the Adventuremice Mousebase that we saw when we first arrived. Look, there's Fledermaus's seaplane! And staff dressed as our characters! School Librarian Mary-Rose Grieve is dressed as Juniper, Assistant Librarian Gemma McCormac is Millie, and Library Assistant Barry McAlpine is Skipper!
Not only that, but the mural has opening doors, as modelled here by Gemma and Mary-Rose:
Hang on, let's zoom in a little closer, so you can see the incredible details here. The mural was painted by an amazing team of parents, and children found the mousetails hidden around school, joined them back up with their mice, which then inhabited their Mousebase.
Check this out, it has a working lift!! And a water wheel that goes around, and twinkling lights!!
Philip and I were completely gobsmacked by this, and got to meet the team of parents who had put it together. Here they are! THANK YOU, incredible Hartland parents!!
But it wasn't only a Mousebase, there was ALSO an incredible Adventuremice photo booth, complete with details from our latest book, Adventuremice: Mousehole to the Centre of the Earth. Spot Ptiny the Pterodactyl! And the Hamstersaurus Rex! Fantastic.
When we went back into the library, there was a whole lovely display of Adventuremice-inspired work the children had made. I actually got a bit teary, it was so wonderful seeing a whole school really getting stuck in to a world Philip and I had made.
We left our own mark on the school, too, just next to the 'Evacuation Procedures' notice. (We thought Fledermaus would appreciate that, he's always getting into a panic.)
Here's Maleeha Saad from the festival, who came with us, and our visit was set up by Aliya Khan and Aira Jane Anupol from the festival team. (Thanks so much, all three of you!)
And, of course, a massive thank you to Mary-Rose, Gemma and Barry from the library for making this the most tremendous visit! And to all the teachers and parents who coordinated with them!! This was truly a special visit and Philip and I will never forget it.
Thank you, Mary-Rose!
Let's start with this incredible big mural of the Adventuremice Mousebase that we saw when we first arrived. Look, there's Fledermaus's seaplane! And staff dressed as our characters! School Librarian Mary-Rose Grieve is dressed as Juniper, Assistant Librarian Gemma McCormac is Millie, and Library Assistant Barry McAlpine is Skipper!
Not only that, but the mural has opening doors, as modelled here by Gemma and Mary-Rose:
Hang on, let's zoom in a little closer, so you can see the incredible details here. The mural was painted by an amazing team of parents, and children found the mousetails hidden around school, joined them back up with their mice, which then inhabited their Mousebase.
Check this out, it has a working lift!! And a water wheel that goes around, and twinkling lights!!
Philip and I were completely gobsmacked by this, and got to meet the team of parents who had put it together. Here they are! THANK YOU, incredible Hartland parents!!
But it wasn't only a Mousebase, there was ALSO an incredible Adventuremice photo booth, complete with details from our latest book, Adventuremice: Mousehole to the Centre of the Earth. Spot Ptiny the Pterodactyl! And the Hamstersaurus Rex! Fantastic.
When we went back into the library, there was a whole lovely display of Adventuremice-inspired work the children had made. I actually got a bit teary, it was so wonderful seeing a whole school really getting stuck in to a world Philip and I had made.
We left our own mark on the school, too, just next to the 'Evacuation Procedures' notice. (We thought Fledermaus would appreciate that, he's always getting into a panic.)
Here's Maleeha Saad from the festival, who came with us, and our visit was set up by Aliya Khan and Aira Jane Anupol from the festival team. (Thanks so much, all three of you!)
And, of course, a massive thank you to Mary-Rose, Gemma and Barry from the library for making this the most tremendous visit! And to all the teachers and parents who coordinated with them!! This was truly a special visit and Philip and I will never forget it.
Thank you, Mary-Rose!