Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #763599 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

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.

From School Library Journal
reSchool-Grade 3-A young mouse with an adventurous heart discovers the pleasures and challenges of travel, and the solace of companionship, when he hops aboard a cross-country train for a journey into the unknown. He hides away in a sleeping car where a kind woman with a twinkle in her eye shares her food, her pocket, and her enjoyment of the journey. Tom's worries about being discovered by the conductor and how he will eat, along with his awe at the wide world, are portrayed simply and effectively in four brief, picture-book chapters. The bright, clear illustrations are well suited to the text, giving readers a close-up look from Tom's perspective and mirroring the warmth of the story. Though now and then the protagonist looks a bit long-tailed for a mouse, he has real character, as does his white-haired, brown-skinned travel companion. And the fact that Ms. Powers travels with some regularity makes their meeting mutually fortuitous. Young readers will pick up on the fact that Tom is shown gazing out at the night from a lighted train compartment although the text specifically mentions that the woman has turned out the light. However, an earlier illustration captures the magic way a train passes through the countryside at night, under stars that seem to follow along, and the sense that the world is big and full of wonders.
Kathie Meizner, Montgomery County Public Libraries, Chevy Chase, MD
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

See the World with a Friend.....
"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.

Tom Mouse is Captivating!
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!

beautiful smart and sensitive
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.