Customer Reviews

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Story overview:

One day, in an old fashioned and unfrequented hotel, a family shows up. The mother is not the most thrilled about the idea of staying at this place, and keeps on insisting that there are probably mice living there, but there were no other options (they had driven for many hours and everything else was full). Her and her husband stay in room 216, but their son, Keith, is allowed to have his own room next door in #215.

The boy pokes his finder in a hole only to find, to his disappointment, that there's nothing in there. Little did he know that it was the entrance to the home of Ralph, a young and mischievous mouse who is always giving his mother reasons to worry; particularly on this day when he climbs up a phone cord to look for leftover crumbs.

Unfortunately for Ralf, the boy's mother is overly clean and there were no leftovers, however what he saw was something he desired even more than food: a motorcycle.

Ralf sits on the motorcycle and accidently rolls off the table, falling into a waste basket, where he is discovered by the boy, Keith, and they become good friends. The two have a lot of fun together until one day-due to Ralf's carelessness-the hotel finds evidence of mice and so Ralf and his family take refuge. Thankfully for the mice, Keith brings them enough food to eat, but one day the boy becomes ill and Ralf finds himself on a mission to help find him some medicine.

My thoughts:

Extremely charming, this book had me turning the pages. The fonts are big (at least in my edition), so it's easier for children to read, and the illustrations (though sometimes not quite accurate) do a good job of painting a visual picture to the words. As an adult, I still really enjoyed reading this again, and will probably go back and read a few more "Ralph S. Mouse" books before too long.

Things to consider:

Keep in mind that this book was written in 1965, and there are some really dated expressions and items, but being from the 60s, and for children, I think it safe to say that this can be read to just about any age. It seems to be targeted more towards boys at around five years old, but I can see girls easily enjoying it too. No cursing, no violence, no sexual situations. Just nice, clean and entertaining reading.

James D. Maxon
[...]

Beverly Cleary is the Queen of the Bookshelves in our house, because of the Ramona and Henry books. This is another wonderful, amazing, creative, and character-building story for your little ones.

The reading level is second-grade (at least), and the chapters are long. It is pure fun -- the boy and the mouse can understand one another, and they each come to the other's rescue. The mouse makes the boy's toy motorcycle "go" by making engine noises, of course.

We enjoy it for family read-aloud time. There are a few illustrations, one or two per chapter, and some 1960's-era vocabulary (modern moms don't give their little boys aspirin anymore, and there's a milkman, and a drugstore that doesn't open till 9:00 the following morning. No Walgreens back then!) So when I read it, I explain a little. I read "aspirin" as "pill" or "medicine". We have stayed in plenty of old hotels like the one in the story book, and it is charming to imagine Ralph on his motorcycle putt-putting along the dark hallways.

The story is boyishly appealing. Once your little ones can read well, Beverly Cleary is an excellent author, because she loves children, and her characters stay safe and develop nice personalities.

I bought the Mouse and the Motorcycle book by Beverly cleary as a christmas gift for my son because it is on his reading list at school and he was interested in it. I got my order very quickly and in great condition. I am 100% satisfied with this seller and would order from them again.

Great story for young listeners or readers. I started reading chapter books with my 3 year old with the classic Winnie the Pooh series and then moved to the Beverly Cleary Ralph the Mouse series. My 4 year old loved this book and couldn't wait to go to bed to see what happened next with this adventurous mouse. Anything that gets my son into bed is a must have!

This was the first chapter book I started reading to my five year old... I didn't know if she'd sit still for a book that wasn't picture-centric but she loved it and I loved it because I remember reading it as a kid myself! It was a wonderful way to jump-start her into chapter books.

This was a great book! I went to the book shelf to find a book and I found it. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. I looked at it and I said to myself, "that looks like an ok book". I looked how many pages it was and it was 158 pages. Then I started reading it, and it was so good I could not wait for IR time every morning.
In the story The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Ralph is a mouse that lives in a knothole in a motel. A kid named Keith and his family was driving and they took a break and stopped at the motel. Keith was in room 215 and that was the same room as Ralph. The next day Ralph saw Keith playing with the motorcycle and asked to ride it. Keith got frightened and then said, "Yeah sure but be careful". One day Keith was out for breakfast and Ralph was riding the motorcycle and when he got off it he left it near a pile of sheets. The maid took the sheets and accidently took the motorcycle. Ralph had lost it! He lost the motorcycle. Keith was sick and he asked Ralph to go to the ground floor and try to find an aspirin. Ralph was looking around for the aspirin and about 10 minutes into his search he found the motorcycle. Ralph kept looking for an aspirin on the ground floor and after about 1 hour of searching he found the aspirin just before he was going to give up his search. After Ralph found the motorcycle Keith said, "Ralph you can keep the motorcycle".
Keith is sick in bed and he asks Ralph to go get him an aspirin and Ralph says "okay". But his mom is worried about him. Ralph was not worried about him. Ralph was not worried about going to the ground floor. He got down there and he was looking through every room and when he was in the lobby he found the motorcycle. He finally found the aspirin and gave it to Keith and he got better.
` Only trust people that you know really well.
A book that is similar to The Mouse and the Motorcycle is The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.
I recommend this book because it is a good and interesting book about a mouse that meets a kid named Keith.