Customer Reviews

Manxmouse: The Mouse Who Knew No Fear

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I was starting to think I was the only person on earth who'd read this book, till I saw J.K. Rowling listing it as one of her childhood favorites. It was definitely one of mine, too!

MANXMOUSE is the story of a mouse, accidentally created by a drunken ceramics maker, who magically comes to life. His adventures through the English countryside are absolutely charming, as are the illustrations by Janet and Anne Grahame-Johnstone (who also did the lovely illustrations for Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians).

While undergoing various adventures in everyplace from a movie set to a rural school, Manxmouse learns that he "belongs to the Manx Cat", and that their fates are bound together. The mouse, wanting to control his own destinty, determines to track down the Manx Cat and face him, no matter what might befall him.

Written by the author of "The Three Lives of Thomasina" and the charming cat adventure "Abandoned", this one is worth tracking down. It's absolutely overdue for a reprint.

I'm always looking for good books to give my nieces and nephews. I read Paul Gallico's Manxmouse because J.K. Rowling said it was one of her favorites; my young relatives are Harry Potter fans, and are interested in whatever Harry's creator likes. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of the adventures of the blue tailless mouse, and the creatures he meets, like the clutterbumph: "Something that is not there until one imagines it...Whatever it is that frightens one the most and that is just above the worst thing one can think of, that is what a clutterbumph looks like."

But Manxmouse's creator had "forgotten to put fear into him," and in fact, as Gallico wrote, "No one is ever born frightened or fearing anything." Because he's fearless, Manxmouse has some amazing adventures with animals most mice would avoid-a hawk; a fox and the hunt pack of hounds pursuing the fox; Nervous Nellie, the Nellyphant (elephant); and more. Eventually Manxmouse has to decide how to deal with a major threat-whether to run, or to surrender, or to fight. How he handles the challenge, and how it all comes out is very satisfying. Buy Manxmouse, read it, and read it aloud to those who can't yet read.
Pros: Great fun for any age
Cons: To enjoy it, the reader must believe in magic.

Of all the books my mother read to my brother and I as children, this is the only one I specifically remember. I can't wait to read it to my son.

I first saw a cartoon version of this story decades ago and finally found the book on which the cartoon was based a few years ago. This book is heart warming and charming with a great message for younger readers. I liked cute drawings inserted in so many pages. This must be a great bedtime story for children.

This book requires the reader to have an open mind. Once you do that, it's pretty good. In some places it can be a bit contradictory and I think it's a book for younger kids, but nonetheless, I am glad J. K. Rowling recommended it. It is a good, fairly quick read that I might someday read to my kids.