The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith: The Novel Cure for a rainy day

Train yourself to salivate at the sound of rain lashing against the window with Dodie Smith's children's classic

Puppy love: A still from Disney's 1961 film version of 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians'

Ailment: A rainy day

Cure: The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

Days of bucketing rain can drain your spirit, especially in the spring when you're desperate to leap out into the sunshine, revel in the new buds and embrace the great outdoors. Of course, our British climate being what it is, total washout days are all too common. But if you can find a way to embrace them for what they do offer – the opportunity, for instance, to stay put, light the fire, and curl up on the rug with a book – you'd probably be a whole lot happier. Train yourself to salivate at the sound of rain lashing against the window with Dodie Smith's ever-wonderful children's classic – and, in particular, the chapter called "Hot Buttered Toast".

When Pongo and Missis's many puppies are snatched by the terrible Cruella de Vil – who wants them for their black-and-white skins – they set off cross-country to find them. Exhausted and limping, they meet a gentlemanly old spaniel who lives in a grand house with his 90-year-old human, Sir Charles.

The spaniel invites them in, realising they're starving and in need of a rest, and positions them behind a decorative screen in the room where Sir Charles is about to have his tea. There's a roaring fire, and the old man toasts slices of white bread on a long fork, slathering them in butter, then passing them on to the spaniel. When the spaniel eats four in a row, Pongo is dismayed. Are they, perhaps, being taunted? But the minute Sir Charles looks away, the spaniel drops a piece of toast behind the screen and then asks for more. They eat heartily in this way, following the toast with a silver bowl of hot, delicious, sweet tea. Never has hot buttered toast and steaming tea seemed so blissful.

Next time the weekend looks set to be wet, don't despair. Gather the rainy-day accoutrements – tea, toast, a fire, a stack of good books – and you'll find yourself singing the praises of the good old British rain.

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