Think your typing mistakes are all your fault?

Think again!

Dot and her crew were on another of their adventures on the Internet. Trying to sort out the Grimbles who make you type out words wring - I mean WRONG!!!!!!!!! - they'd met the Honourable H.D. Spellchecker, whose job it was to put mis-spellings right. But his home, Wordspring Hall, was another story...

As the doors went back to reveal the Hall, Dot was amazed. Sid the Shopper was even more astounded - he did a double twirl and ended up (you know what shopping trolleys are like!) flat on his back with his squeaky wheels spinning. As Mr Mouse picked himself up, grumbling, Dot and Wizard put Sid back upright - and then took a good look at the amazing sight before them.

Stretching away in the distance, further than the eye could see, was a huge room. In fact it was more like a cathedral, or a very big church or temple, than just a room - with a curved shiny ceiling high overhead, and sunny shafts of light breaking through from brightly-coloured windows high up on either side.

But what was even more amazing was that everywhere you looked, there were penguins - short ones, fat ones, old ones, young ones, little babies running about, teenagers chatting and messing about, solemn grandads with shawls and pince-nez like the Honourable H.D. - even biker penguins with leather jackets and helmets! The room was filled with the happy sounds of their conversation, laughter and friendly calls across to each other, and the odd squeal and shout.

But it was also clear that they all had a job of work to do, and knew just how to do it. For all round the room, stretching off into the distance, were little pools of water, like small ponds in a meadow. Only these ponds glowed with a strange blue light - and every so often, a little fish-like shape, silvery in the sunlight, would leap out of the pools - to be caught gently by the nearest penguin, flipped over, and put gently back in the water.

As Dot and the crew watched, he Honourable H.D. himself caught a little fish, flipped it over, and put it back in the nearest pool. "Littkle - little - that's always a favourite" he laughed. Then he caught sight of the amazed faces all around him and laughed again. "Ah my dears" he said in his posh but kindly voice "I think you all need an explanation.

"E-x-p-l-a-n-a-t-i-o-n" he went on "Explaining, especially with view to mutual understanding or...) Oops sorry, I must stop that - bad habit! I'm so used to spellchecking I can't seem to stop myself giving the dictionary meaning of the words I say out loud...because that's what we all do here, you see. We put right your spelling mistakes on your computer and help you write the right word in your homework, or your IT project at school, or your letters to your grandma or... whatever you like!"

He waved towards all the other penguins, as they worked on. "You see to us - those mistakes come shooting out from these word-ponds, just like little fish - and it's our job to catch them, put them right and put them back, whenever you press the ABC - tick button on your top toolbar. That's what my family here" he waved towards the great crowd of penguins "that's what we're all doing. I must say" he said with a modest gleam in his eyes showing through his pince-nez ."I think we're... well... pretty good at it actually!"

"Oh yeah?" said Mr Mouse in his most sassy drawl. "Oh yeah? And what about... the Grimbles then?"

"Ah!" said the Honourable H.D., his facing clouding over. "That's more difficult. To sort them out, you have to catch them first."

Sid the Shopper's mouth drooped even more.

"But... I think there could be a way!"