Rarest Kind of Best

Is there any storybook creature who can win our sympathy quicker than the humble mouse? This wee beastie, less objectionable than a rat and more cuddly than an insect, appears in countless stories as a stand-in for the weak and powerless. When a little mouse triumphs over overwhelming adversity, we all cheer.

And yet… the sympathy does not extend to real life, does it? I remember a time many years ago when my days were occupied with writing charming adventures for adorable mice, and my nights were dedicated to exterminating the rather less adorable mice that were running amok in my apartment.

Ah well… let’s just focus on those more charming, storybook rodents for the moment, shall we?

Here are 10 books featuring mice…

PICTURE BOOKS

1. Frederick, by Leo Lionni

An artist mouse brings sunshine to his brethren during the long, cold winter.

2. The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson

Wee mousie outwits many predators, including a ferocious Gruffalo.

3. Amos & Boris, by William Steig

The story of an unusual friendship between a whale and a mouse.

4. Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears, by Emily Gravett

Little Mouse is afraid of everything. A child’s primer on phobias.

5. The Church Mouse, by Graham Oakley

A church mouse is friends with a peaceable cat; together they foil a thief. First book in the very popular Church Mice series.

CHAPTER BOOKS

1. The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary

A mouse befriends a boy and rides about on a toy motorcycle.

2. The School Mouse, by Dick King-Smith

A mouse living in a school decides she’d like to learn how to read too.

3. Stuart Little, by E.B. White

Stuart’s adventures and mishaps in New York City.

4. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, by Kate DiCamillo

The story of a mouse’s quest to rescue a human princess.

5. The Witches, by Roald Dahl

A vast witch conspiracy is undone by a very determined little mouse.