Tom Mouse [Hardcover]

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author), Julie Downing (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Series: Single Titles

When a hobo cat tells Tom Mouse tales of travel, he boards a train headed for Chicago -- and an adventure in a world that's big and scary and exciting and beautiful. From a much-lauded and best-selling author, Tom Mouse is a tale of a mouse, a train, and a woman with a pocketful of surprises.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although life is cozy in a hole in the wall of a diner, young Tom Mouse has grander ideas. Taking a tip from a hobo rat one day, he hops aboard a train, and his traveling adventures begin. Fortunately, he manages to find a temporary home in Roomette Nine--and a permanent friend with the other transitory tenant, an unflappable woman named Ms. Powers.

Ursula K. Le Guin, renowned author of the Newbery Honor and National Book Award-winning Earthsea sequence, as well as the Catwings series for younger readers, crafts a gentle tale of unlikely friendship and tame adventure. Readers will smile with relief when they discover, along with Tom, that Ms. Powers is not the kind of person to "scream and stand on the seat" when she sees a rodent. As it happens, she's the kind of person who doesn't mind a pocket-sized companion as she travels the world. Julie Downing, who also illustrated Le Guin's A Ride on the Red Mare's Back, captures the small-scale pleasures of molasses cookie crumbs and big-city exploration. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

The creators of A Ride on the Red Mare's Back here take readers on another diverting ride. Tempted by the travel tales of a hobo rat who rides the rails on boxcars, Tom Mouse leaves his home in a hole in the wall of a station diner and sneaks aboard a Chicago-bound train. Though Tom fully expects that any human passenger who spies him will shriek, he has the good fortune to end up in a roomette occupied by Ms. Powers, a kind woman not at all squeamish or averse to sharing her small space and her snacks of cookies and carrots with a mouse. Le Guin's smooth, chatty narrative will endear both characters to readers as it relays the cheerful woman's one-sided conversation along with her new pal's unspoken thoughts. And kids will warm to the story's conclusion, which hints at a lasting friendship between the two. Downing's softly focused, appealing art at times recalls the work of Jim LaMarche in its use of imaginative perspectives and close-up images of the friends: the mouse scurries through human feet as he boards the train, gazing out on Ms. Powers's legs through the vents in her closet door, and views the passing world through the cabin's windowpane. Given its relatively lengthy text, this charmer makes a fitting read-aloud for the picture book set or an ideal beginning reader. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; First Edition edition (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761315993
• ISBN-13: 978-0761315995
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,982,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars See the World with a Friend....., May 19, 2002

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Mouse (Hardcover)

"Tom Mouse grew up in a hole in the wall of the diner in the station. His family was content with their cozy nest and the doughnut crumbs and bits of bacon they picked up in the diner. But Tom watched the great trains come into the station and leave again, and he wished he could go with them..." So begins Ursula Le Guin's sweet and lovely tale about a little mouse who yearns to leave home and see the big wide world he's heard so much about, and finds a companion to share his travels with. Tom kisses his family good-bye, scurries aboard a train headed for Chicago, and is off on what he hopes will be the beginning of a lifetime of adventures. Fortunately, he makes himself at home in Roomette Nine, along with its paying guest, Mrs Powers, an interesting and remarkable woman who, he finds, is not afraid of mice. In fact, she seems happy to have the company, and shares her snacks and conversation with Tom. As the trip continues these two form a special alliance, and decide together, that seeing the world would be even more fun and exciting with a friend..... Told in four short chapters, Ms Le Guin's simple, gentle text is complemented by Julie Brown's charming and expressive illustrations rendered in warm and soft, subdued tones. Together word and art bring this endearing little rodent and his story to life, and you can almost feel the motion of the train, and see the world rush by outside the window, as the train speeds on toward Chicago. Perfect for early readers, or as a read-aloud story the entire family can share together, Tom Mouse is a heartwarming and engaging tale of friendship and adventure that shouldn't be missed, and one of the best new pictures books of 2002.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Mouse is Captivating!, July 6, 2002

By 

Elizabeth T. Lee (Bloomfield Village, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Mouse (Hardcover)

What a wonderful story that captivated my children!! Not to mention that Julie Downing once again makes every story come alive with her illustrations. You can see the mouse dance and how she captured the twinkle in his eye was so fabulous!!! Any child will just love this book!!! Many thanks!

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful smart and sensitive, January 3, 2008

By 

Lauren V. Waters "lva" (san francisco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tom Mouse (Hardcover)

I love the world and want to share it with my little one. He's 5, and we both loved this book and it's gorgeous illustrations. Teaches a bit about adventure, art, Chinese culture and geography. Highly recommended. Also, The Snail and the Whale (by the team that did the Gruffalo) is another book that this reminds me, which we both recommend.