Call number
Genres
Publication
Bard (1982), Paperback
Pages
182
Description
Two discarded toy mice survive perilous adventures in a hostile world before finding security and happiness with old friends and new.
Awards
CCBC Choices (2001)
Language
Original publication date
1967
Physical description
182 p.; 6.5 inches
ISBN
0380604590 / 9780380604593
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member SandDune
Once upon a time, on the counter of a toyshop in a small snowy town, there lived a clockwork mouse, who when wound up danced round and round with his son in his arms. Their friends, a very superior clockwork elephant and a seal who balanced a ball on her nose, lived in the reflected glory of the
Time moves on. The mouse and his child are sold, and played with carefully each Christmas until the fateful day when a vase falls on them, and they are broken and thrown away. Found and fixed by a passing tramp rummaging in the rubbish, the mouse and his child are set loose upon the world. And the world is very different from the happy, caring world of the toy shop. The toys immediately encounter Manny Rat, a gangster rat making his way ruthlessly in the sleazy and violent world of the town dump, who runs a slave workforce of thrown away clockwork toys. By the end of the third chapter, animals and toys are dropping like flies and there is carnage everywhere: a toy is murdered; Manny Rat's henchman is eaten by a badger; major warfare between tribes of shrews results in the survivors being mown down by a pair of weasels who in turn are dispatched by a horned owl with a talon through each of their brains. And one of the cast of an experimental theatre group is killed and eaten by its own audience when the play proves too avant garde for its taste.
So perhaps not the usual children's book about talking toys and animals. I read this to my son when he was seven or eight, and remember looking at the cover which shows the cuddly toy mice and wondering if he was a bit too old for it. By the end of a couple of chapters I was wondering whether he was too young. I've never read a children's book before or since which has been so different to what I was expecting. In the end, as the mouse and his child search for the security and happiness of their early days, it does become a heart-warming story of the importance of friends and family, but there's certainly some severe trials along the way.
This is a book that I love but one which can appeal to adults rather than children. But I think that for the right sort of child, and at the right age, that transitional age when they will still read about talking animals, but are hankering afer more excitement, it is a wonderful book too. Certainly my son really enjoyed it when we read it together. But not recommended for children of a particularly nervous disposition ...
Show More
most magnificent dolls house ever seen. An opulently furnished three-storied dolls house with everything that an upper-class doll needs: an ebony piano; potted ferns in the conservatory; a telescope in the observatory; and silver dishes, plaster cakes and pastries on the white damask cloth on the dining room table. Such a perfect, peaceful and gentle picture.Time moves on. The mouse and his child are sold, and played with carefully each Christmas until the fateful day when a vase falls on them, and they are broken and thrown away. Found and fixed by a passing tramp rummaging in the rubbish, the mouse and his child are set loose upon the world. And the world is very different from the happy, caring world of the toy shop. The toys immediately encounter Manny Rat, a gangster rat making his way ruthlessly in the sleazy and violent world of the town dump, who runs a slave workforce of thrown away clockwork toys. By the end of the third chapter, animals and toys are dropping like flies and there is carnage everywhere: a toy is murdered; Manny Rat's henchman is eaten by a badger; major warfare between tribes of shrews results in the survivors being mown down by a pair of weasels who in turn are dispatched by a horned owl with a talon through each of their brains. And one of the cast of an experimental theatre group is killed and eaten by its own audience when the play proves too avant garde for its taste.
So perhaps not the usual children's book about talking toys and animals. I read this to my son when he was seven or eight, and remember looking at the cover which shows the cuddly toy mice and wondering if he was a bit too old for it. By the end of a couple of chapters I was wondering whether he was too young. I've never read a children's book before or since which has been so different to what I was expecting. In the end, as the mouse and his child search for the security and happiness of their early days, it does become a heart-warming story of the importance of friends and family, but there's certainly some severe trials along the way.
This is a book that I love but one which can appeal to adults rather than children. But I think that for the right sort of child, and at the right age, that transitional age when they will still read about talking animals, but are hankering afer more excitement, it is a wonderful book too. Certainly my son really enjoyed it when we read it together. But not recommended for children of a particularly nervous disposition ...
Show Less
LibraryThing member LastCall
My favorite book of all time. The most allegorical American novel since Moby Dick.
LibraryThing member AJBraithwaite
Once started, I couldn't put this lovely story down. My 11 year old daughter is now similarly hooked by it. 'Charming' is the adjective that seems to best describe this book. I've always been fascinated by those 'infinity' pictures that feature so heavily in this novel in the form of the last
Show More
visible dog on the can of dog food. I was also delighted with the secret of the mice's success - to break the circle and keep moving forward. Show Less
LibraryThing member debnance
Don't be misled by this book's cover, with its gentle picture of a windup toy mousehand in hand with his small son. The Mouse and His Child is and isn't a children's book but it is not recommended for the soft hearted of any age. The title characters, a mouse and his child, are toys who seem quite
Show More
astonished to find themselves in the world, moving from a toyshop to display items under a Christmas tree to, quite suddenly, the dump. Despite his father's doubts, despite the adversity of the world including the wicked Manny Rat, the child holds onto and attempts to realize his dream of finding and making his toyshop companions, a windup elephant and a windup seal, his mother and sister, and finding and making the toyshop's dolls' house his family home. I'm making it sound much more treacly than it is, however. There is hope and redemption in this story, but there is also cruelty and death. Like most good children's stories, it can be read simply as a wonderful adventure if you are ten or as a sophisticated fantasy with clever dialogue and deep meaning if you are twenty. I liked it so much that I went right back and read it again when I finished. I would caution against reading by or with the most sensitive of readers. Show Less
LibraryThing member Esta1923
Speaking/writing as a Hoban fan I declare "The Mouse and His Child" basic Hoban, and required reading for every member of LibraryThing. It is lyrical, adventurous, funny, sad, true to itself.
Russell Hoban died recently. Many years ago I was thrilled to speak to him on the phone. I had called his
Russell Hoban died recently. Many years ago I was thrilled to speak to him on the phone. I had called his
Show More
number from a London phone booth and he answered. His British fans always had wonderful celebrations on his birthday. Tho I have many of his novels this book and the story, "Bedtime for Frances" are true favorites I'll always reread. Show Less
LibraryThing member jenspirko
Absolutely brilliant: A riveting pseudo-quest through a series of adventures that may seem mundane on the surface but which reveal Hoban's sharp critiques of human society, such as the warlike shrews and the self-centered avant-garde. One of the rare books that works equally well for kids and
Show More
adults, standing up to deeper analysis even as it works as a (not-so) simple adventure. Show Less
LibraryThing member saroz
Russell Hoban is one of those authors I probably haven't given enough of a chance. I've read one book of his I really loved (Amaryllis Night and Day), one I did not get on with at all (The Medusa Frequency), and bits and pieces of a third which, while very, very interesting, would feel more like an
Yeah. Yeah.
It's pretty clear to me, at this point, that Hoban must have been an exceptionally smart man, and possessed of an exceptional mind to be able to think up even that handful of stories which - regardless of whether I liked them or not - are all pretty startlingly varied and original pieces of writing. Based on that one fact, you'd think it would be clear that I should read more of his work. Yet as I sat re-reading The Mouse and His Child, it occurred to me that there is an increasingly clear separation in my mind between great writers and great storytellers. For a long time, I've thought that there are many great storytellers - L. Frank Baum, for instance, being a wonderful example within the children's literature genre - who are not particularly great writers. They don't write overly memorable prose and may even have a tin ear for dialogue, but their sheer ability to carry you along in a story renders them able to tell you, sometimes, roughly the same story again and again and again, and you never get bored. Now I'm starting to think that the opposite can be true: there are great writers in the world, commanders of language, theme and style, who are - confoundingly - so smart or so full of a need to communicate an idea that it gets in the way of telling an entertaining story. I say this, specifically, because all the way through The Mouse and His Child I admired Hoban's actual writing. He has a really ingenious way of putting across a fairly sideways point of view in a deceptively straightforward way. There are some incredibly vivid images in the story, both terrifying and beautiful, and the questions Hoban asks of the reader are vivid enough to have stuck with me more than twenty years. There's just one problem.
I did not enjoy reading this book. I really, really did not enjoy reading this book.
A large part of that, admittedly, is the tone. This is, for a large portion of its proceedings, a very grim children's story. It is about suffering, pain, loss of family, pursuit, torture, and sudden death. Perhaps more importantly, the quest for individual identity - "self-winding" - that serves as the book's focus is so startlingly different from other children's literature, so reflective and melancholy, as to actually be haunting. This is heavy, heady stuff. You can tell - palpably - that it is written by someone who fought in war. Sometimes, it just feels relentless.
Some of the novel's eccentricities, though, come off like the favored children of a first-time novelist, and those can just become annoying. I can't for the life of me figure out, for instance, why Hoban stops the story dead for a prolonged satire of Waiting for Godot, or why the Muskrat's peculiar "much-and-little" algebraic equations (cog plus key equals winding!) are drummed quite so hard into the dialogue of the second half of the book. The Last Visible Dog symbolism, while certainly effective, also feels incredibly heavy-handed, especially in the undersea sequence. It's all there to support the existentialist theme - in fact, it's impossible to understand these elements any other way - but in an already very depressing story, that uncomfortable feeling that you are being lectured at by someone who desperately wants you to understand his message is just about enough to make me put the book down and walk away. And I did. Several times.
So where does that leave me with The Mouse and His Child? I'm really not sure. I respect it, and more, I find myself respecting Hoban for his unique vision. I find it a nearly impossible book to recommend, though. Unlike many readers, I wouldn't call it "magical." That's too light, too pleasant, too sweet. I would call it a very original work that also happens to be overwhelmingly sad and wistful. Hoban's world is not a world I want to revisit, probably ever again. I already know it's a world I can't forget.
Show More
intellectual exercise than an entertainment no matter who was writing it (Riddley Walker). Over all of them looms the shadow of The Mouse and His Child, an existentialist children's fantasy that I first encountered as an unforgettably dark and uncompromising cartoon before rediscovering it as an even darker and more uncompromising novel.Yeah. Yeah.
It's pretty clear to me, at this point, that Hoban must have been an exceptionally smart man, and possessed of an exceptional mind to be able to think up even that handful of stories which - regardless of whether I liked them or not - are all pretty startlingly varied and original pieces of writing. Based on that one fact, you'd think it would be clear that I should read more of his work. Yet as I sat re-reading The Mouse and His Child, it occurred to me that there is an increasingly clear separation in my mind between great writers and great storytellers. For a long time, I've thought that there are many great storytellers - L. Frank Baum, for instance, being a wonderful example within the children's literature genre - who are not particularly great writers. They don't write overly memorable prose and may even have a tin ear for dialogue, but their sheer ability to carry you along in a story renders them able to tell you, sometimes, roughly the same story again and again and again, and you never get bored. Now I'm starting to think that the opposite can be true: there are great writers in the world, commanders of language, theme and style, who are - confoundingly - so smart or so full of a need to communicate an idea that it gets in the way of telling an entertaining story. I say this, specifically, because all the way through The Mouse and His Child I admired Hoban's actual writing. He has a really ingenious way of putting across a fairly sideways point of view in a deceptively straightforward way. There are some incredibly vivid images in the story, both terrifying and beautiful, and the questions Hoban asks of the reader are vivid enough to have stuck with me more than twenty years. There's just one problem.
I did not enjoy reading this book. I really, really did not enjoy reading this book.
A large part of that, admittedly, is the tone. This is, for a large portion of its proceedings, a very grim children's story. It is about suffering, pain, loss of family, pursuit, torture, and sudden death. Perhaps more importantly, the quest for individual identity - "self-winding" - that serves as the book's focus is so startlingly different from other children's literature, so reflective and melancholy, as to actually be haunting. This is heavy, heady stuff. You can tell - palpably - that it is written by someone who fought in war. Sometimes, it just feels relentless.
Some of the novel's eccentricities, though, come off like the favored children of a first-time novelist, and those can just become annoying. I can't for the life of me figure out, for instance, why Hoban stops the story dead for a prolonged satire of Waiting for Godot, or why the Muskrat's peculiar "much-and-little" algebraic equations (cog plus key equals winding!) are drummed quite so hard into the dialogue of the second half of the book. The Last Visible Dog symbolism, while certainly effective, also feels incredibly heavy-handed, especially in the undersea sequence. It's all there to support the existentialist theme - in fact, it's impossible to understand these elements any other way - but in an already very depressing story, that uncomfortable feeling that you are being lectured at by someone who desperately wants you to understand his message is just about enough to make me put the book down and walk away. And I did. Several times.
So where does that leave me with The Mouse and His Child? I'm really not sure. I respect it, and more, I find myself respecting Hoban for his unique vision. I find it a nearly impossible book to recommend, though. Unlike many readers, I wouldn't call it "magical." That's too light, too pleasant, too sweet. I would call it a very original work that also happens to be overwhelmingly sad and wistful. Hoban's world is not a world I want to revisit, probably ever again. I already know it's a world I can't forget.
Show Less
LibraryThing member adzebill
Much loved when read to me as a child, but I couldn’t remember how it ended—a perfect reason to read it again, 33 years later. Surprisingly sophisticated and moving, with metaphorical depth i may have missed first time. i certainly missed the Samuel Beckett parody.
LibraryThing member Samanthasrai
I will endeavour to write a longer review later, but for now- I love this book. One of my favourite children's classics. Beautiful, evocotive, funny, heartbreaking, uplifting.
LibraryThing member tiamatq
I read this because I remember seeing the movie as a child and being deeply disturbed by it. And yet, I think my sister and I watched it again and again. Parts of the story really stuck with me, so that once I got to them in the book, they were crystal clear in my memory. While this is a sweet and
Show More
meaningful story, I'm just not really sure how to feel about it. I have trouble finding it's appeal to children - though I'm a lot older than a child and maybe I've lost touch with what would be an interesting read. This book reminded me a lot of The Phantom Tollbooth in its layers of meaning, but it just didn't have the same sort of magic that caught me up and has made me reread the book. I am glad that I finally read it and made the connection to the movie. And I think I've finally gotten over that donkey getting so brutally smashed... or maybe not. Eep! Show Less
LibraryThing member themulhern
Satirical and dark fable about two wind-up toys. Russel Hoban was Jewish and he wrote this in the 60s. I think there is some sort of metaphor for Israel in the whole story, but I can not say what the point finally is.
This is yet another novel, like Peter Pan, in which the villain feels degraded and
This is a good tale to read over Christmas, if you don't share the public and commercial enthusiasm for the season.
This is yet another novel, like Peter Pan, in which the villain feels degraded and
Show More
entrapped by his own villainy.This is a good tale to read over Christmas, if you don't share the public and commercial enthusiasm for the season.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Schneider
A fast paced, self -winding story that comes to life and brings a great lesson we should not forget, especially in these times of difficulty.
LibraryThing member maryhollis
I will never let this book go....reading it was a numinous experience.
LibraryThing member Griffin22
A charming if odd and slightly melancholy children's book. A dancing wind-up toy, the mouse and his child are bought as a Christmas decoration but discarded once damaged. They have many adventures with animals both real and tin, but struggle to control their own destiny as they can only move if
Show More
wound up by someone else. Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryLou
Charming book, wished I had read it more as a child, my Mum bought it for me but I put of reading it, and regretted not reading it sooner.
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
saw on display in library & picked up - I'd never heard of it nor read it as a child - I do like the illustrations by Small in this edition... OK - I got to page 58 and am just not getting it. I don't know why; maybe it's because of the kinds of distractions I'm having irl right now, but anyway I'm
Show More
going to take it back to the library. Show Less
LibraryThing member Writermala
If you think this is "just a children's book," you're mistaken. This book is deep...really, really deep! Read it and read it to your children and grandchildren too!!
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
After time spent in a toy store and then as a family's Christmas toy, a wind-up mouse and his child end up in a dump. They endure perilous adventures and meet interesting characters along the way, including a fortune-telling frog, crows who run a theater company, a philosophical snapping turtle,
Show More
and a single-minded muskrat. A good read-aloud although the deep musings will go over children's heads. There are several sudden, predatory deaths of characters, but the story moves on without lingering. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Ostensibly a children's book, it has something for everyone. It's about the transformative power of love and offers us hope in the midst of our existential angst. Depressing, uplifting and unique, this book turned me onto Russell Hoban - discovering one of his books in a used bookstore is an
Show More
extraordinary treat! Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
This book is unique and brilliant. This is my second time through and I am as awed as I was the first time. Lillian Hoban's illustrations are a wonderful accompaniment. Appropriate reading for adults and those that might want to read to them..