A CHILDREN’s book, The Angels of Malvern Link, by Philippa Lowe, a parishioner at St Matthias’s, Malvern Link, in the diocese of Worcester, tells the story of how two children, chosen to play angels in their school nativity, become real-life angels to an elderly woman.

Also featuring carved mice who come to life and celebrate the joy of Christmas, the story has been illustrated by Sophie Dainty, in her first contract after graduating from Hereford College of Arts.

The Vicar of Malvern Link with Cowleigh, the Revd Phillip Johnson, reports that the local bookshop is struggling to keep up with demand.

A predecessor, the Revd Henry Wilmott Hill, sold his valuable moth collection in 1934 to pay for the church’s oak screens, which were “signed” with tiny carved mice by the workshop of Robert Thompson, the “Mouseman” of Kilburn, Yorkshire. Each picture in the book has at least one hidden mouse for children to find.

The Angels of Malvern Link (£6) is available from mlwc.church, and all proceeds support children’s work in the parish.