Book Review: The Manor House Stories by Jani Tully Chaplin
Cream & Sugar the Milkmaids: Snowfalls and Snowballs
As you may remember, my children and I reviewed a different book in this
series just before Christmas. Well, it transpires that there are 12 books in
total, each associated to a month of the year. This book – Cream & Sugar
the Milkmaids – is the January issue, and it is full of The White Stuff that is
snow J
Everything about the presentation of this book has already been said in
my previous review. It has that ‘collectable’ feel to the 68 page solid
hardback with shiny slipcase. As before, a glossy ribbon (ice blue this time)
is included to mark your page. Before you reach the start of the story you are
introduced to the full series of books with short single paragraph overviews.
There is again a beautifully presented ‘Meet the Characters’ double page spread,
with lovely portrait illustrations. And the foreword by Julian Fellows again
reminds you that you are about to read a book that is a bit special!
And so to the actual story…
Set in January, the story mainly focuses around two milkmaids – Cream and
Sugar – and the young members of the household, the children Miranda and her
twin brothers Arthur and Sebastian. All children love to play in the snow, and
the first morning in this story they all wake to a lovely white winter
wonderland outside their windows. They had snowball fights, fast downhill
rides, and the almost compulsory crash at the bottom, on their wooden sledge –
simply what childhood memories are full of!
The outdoor games were temporarily suspended by the arrival of a
beautiful hare-pulled sleigh, driven by a Russian princess (Princess Petrushka
Plover) – everyone was in awe of the Royal arrival – and they all were
desperate to meet her. Erminetine Stoat, who managed the icehouse, had agreed
to carve an ice sculpture for a Grand Dinner that evening. Even with the help
of a lot of her friends, her sculpture, of the domed buildings in Moscow, wasn’t
quite right – and she started to panic. They then remembered that Delia Duck
the cook was making an ice bowl full of flowers to serve ice-cream in, so they
adapted the ice ‘domes’ and turned them into a stunning ‘fruit in a fruit bowl’
sculpture instead. Cream and Sugar the milkmaids, who helped sculpture the
fruit and make the ice-cream, were desperate to catch a glimpse of the Princess.
The Princess was so pleased with the sculpture that she asked to meet those who
made it. The milkmaids were each given a present by the Princess – a set of
Matryoshka dolls - all the way from
Russia. She also left some beautiful slippers for Erminetine Stoat – everyone
was very pleased with their gifts!
When reading the story, you can sense the nervousness of the staff who
were serving the Princess at the Grand Dinner – Delia Duck particularly had a
sense of humour failure at one point, understandable given the stress she would
have been under!
An absolute bonus can be found right at the very back of the book – a
‘How to Make an Ice Bowl’ project … a degree of mindreading must have taken
place because when I read about it in the book, I did actually consider trying
to make one myself! And of course, with the instructions in front of me, how
could I not have a go! This weekend my children will be eating their ice-cream
desserts from small bowls made of ice! I can’t wait!
