The Rescuers (book)

The Rescuers is a British children's novel written by Margery Sharp and illustrated by Garth Williams; its first edition was published in 1959 by Collins in the United Kingdom and Little, Brown in the United States. The novel is the first in a series of stories about Miss Bianca, a socialite mouse who volunteered to lend assistance to people and animals in danger.
Plot.
The story begins in an unnamed, supposedly "Barely civilized" country in the 1950s, during a meeting of the Prisoners’ Aid Society, an international organization of mice dedicated to brightening the lives of prisoners. When the old clerk informs delegates about the case of a Norwegian poet, imprisoned (most likely wrongfully) in the horrible Black Castle, the moderator lady suggests changing the traditional rules of the organization to try to rescue him. Despite the clerk's doubts, the Society agrees with her proposal. Needing a mouse who can speak Norwegian to translate for them, the society decides to ask Miss Bianca, a privileged white mouse belonging to the Ambassador to Norway's household, for help.
Bernard, a resident of the pantry who previously won a medal for saving some other mice from a cat, volunteers to accept the rescue mission. He enters the Ambassador's house and finds Miss Bianca in her magnificent porcelain pagoda. As she cannot speak Norwegian, Bernard tries to convince her to undertake the journey to find a brave Norwegian mouse for them. Having been pampered by the Ambassador's little boy all her life, Miss Bianca is first terrified and refuses. However, as Bernard explains the situation, Miss Bianca, herself a poet, warms to the idea, and also begins to have feelings for Bernard. When she next travels to Oslo with the Ambassador, she decides to undertake the mission. 
Upon arrival in Norway, Miss Bianca escapes her family and enters an underground pub full of sailor mice at a bachelor party. The Petty Officer volunteers a sturdy, seasoned adventurer named Nils for the mission; Nils instantly agrees and takes Miss Bianca back to the Prisoner's Aid Society, the first half of the journey stowing away on a cargo ship and the rest of the way by speedboat (a toy of the Ambassador's son). Miss Bianca's part in the mission ends here; however, instead of going home, she finds herself drawn to the adventure and decides to accompany Bernard and Nils to the Black Castle.
The three mice hitch a ride on a supply wagon, and travel two weeks across country to the prison, located in the nearly impenetrable ruins of an old castle. They find the doors are all locked except the head jailer's office, and the office is guarded by Mamelouk, a giant grey and black Persian cat belonging to the head jailer. Finding the only mouse hole in the castle in the back of the office, the three set up living quarters and wait for an opportunity. 
Over the next couple months, Bernard and Nils undertake many scouting expeditions while Miss Bianca keeps Mamelouk distracted with her charm and wit. He is easy to bait, being incredibly boastful and equally stupid. Miss Bianca even convinces him with a confusing argument not to eat Bernard and Nils the one time he does catch them, and learns from him of the horrible conditions the prisoners live in. The mice begin to despair, until Bernard discovers a disused water gate at the rear of the palace, and Miss Bianca learns from a boast of Mamelouk's that he and the jailers will be unconscious most of New Year's Day, having drunk and feasted more than their fill at a party the night before.
After packing up the living quarters, the mice set out on New Year's Day. They manage to steal the keys from a sleeping/drunk guard and unlock the door to the cell hall. They travel past the cells, with Nils calling out in Norwegian, finally getting a response from a sick and emaciated young man with overgrown hair and nails. This is indeed the poet - being an artist and a dreamer, he is the only one in the prison who can believe the mice really are talking to him. He follows them to the water gate, which they open, and escapes. The whole party nearly drowns in the freezing, swollen river, but they are rescued by a kindly family traveling on a barge. Having no respect for the Black Castle, the family takes the poet and the mice downriver as far as they can, no questions asked.
The three mice are welcomed back to headquarters amidst a huge celebration, and several artifacts of their time in the black castle are framed in the meeting hall for posterity. All three mice receive new silver medals with a picture of a broken fetter etched upon them, as well. Healed and cleaned up by the barge people, the poet thanks them all and returns to Norway, promising to meet up with Nils in Oslo. Miss Bianca gives Nils the speedboat, in which he sails home to Norway, and Bernard invites Miss Bianca to live with him and join the Prisoner's Aid Society. She nearly accepts, until the Ambassador's footman discovers her and picks her up, commenting on how much the Ambassador's little boy has grieved for her. Deciding fate has decreed her destiny, she bids Bernard farewell, and returns to her beloved master, much to the joy of the household. Nils and the poet meet up in Oslo and have a night on the town together; afterwards, the poet publishes some verses about Miss Bianca which become famous, and Bernard becomes the new secretary of the Prisoner's Aid Society.
Reception.
"Kirkus Reviews" described the book as "an absurd and beguiling fantasy" that was "made to order for Walt Disney—but a strange departure for Margery Sharp", and shortly after its publication, Walt Disney Productions began developing an adaptation of the novel. The result was the animated film "The Rescuers", released in 1977 and based primarily on the second novel in the series, "Miss Bianca", with elements from the original novel.
In his 1997 collection of essays on children's literature, "A Child's Delight", Noel Perrin noted that the book is very different from (and in his opinion far superior to) the movie, commending the book for its inventive plot and for the "ease and freedom", "elegance", and "irony" of Sharp's writing.
In 2011, a decade after going out of print, the book was reissued in a new edition by "The New York Review of Books". Reviewer Meghan Cox Gurdon of "The Wall Street Journal" noted that the book "is much funnier and more interestingly textured than the high-fructose movie version."