Ned Mouse Breaks Away [Hardcover]

Tim Wynne-Jones (Author), Dusan Petricic (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

In this gently subversive fable, Ned Mouse is trying to break out of jail after having committed the heinous crime of writing "The government is unfair to mice!" in his spinach. Aside from the injustice of the punishment, Ned doesn't like his tiny cell, he doesn't like the vile food, and he doesn't think he looks good in stripes. Over the years Ned makes various unsuccessful attempts to escape until he finally comes up with his most daring escape plan yet. All he needs for his plan to succeed is the cooperation of his gullible guard. Author Tim Wynne-Jones has received dozens of awards for his children's literature, including the prestigious Horn Book Award.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Ned Mouse, a political prisoner sentenced to life for writing negative things about the government (using pureed spinach), is desperate to escape jail, but his attempts are always thwarted by his dumb-as-a-post prison keeper. After 17 years, a letter from an old friend prompts him to try a daring new escape; he mails parts of himself to Morty, a few pieces at a time. He fashions replacement parts out of tin so as not to raise suspicion. All goes according to plan until most of him is residing happily by the sea with Morty, and only a tin replica is left in prison (except for his writing arm, which he had to leave behind to wrap and address the last package). The tone of this surreal story is both quirky and matter-of-fact. Readers will become so fond of this tenacious mouse with an amazing facility for tinwork that they will accept with a grin and barely raised eyebrow the idea of Ned sending off a package containing "some claws, a whisker or two, and his funny bone." The protagonist's clearly impossible tin creations, his eye-rolling comments about his keeper's mental abilities, his endless variety of far-fetched escape attempts, and even the goofy illustrations are reminiscent of Warner Bros. cartoons starring Bugs Bunny or the Roadrunner, but with more sweetness and humanity. Funny, light, and deliciously different.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 68 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888994745
• ISBN-13: 978-0888994745
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,766,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Love It, January 7, 2004

By A Customer

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This review is from: Ned Mouse Breaks Away (Hardcover)

I read Ned Mouse with a boy I tutor who normally hates to read. We both loved it. The writing is clear and easy to read with out being simplistic. My student loved the constant jokes and puns. It's refreshing to find a book with enough plot for an older child at an easier reading level. This is definately an author I'll look for again.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This "children's" book is really a socio-political agenda in sheep's clothing., December 27, 2005

By 

Pete H. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ned Mouse Breaks Away (Paperback)

The story's underlying message is that the vast majority of prison inmates are not dangerous and should not be in prisons. Using his main character, Ned the mouse, the author attempts to draw empathy for these prisoners.
However Ned the mouse is not representative of the vast majority of real prisoners in countries such as Canada, UK, and US -- for Ned the mouse is a political prisoner. As such, the book takes a serious social debate and then misrepresents basic facts in order to support the author's side of the debate.