As he looked across the yard at The Last Visible Dog the town clock sent the strokes of midnight singing on the sharp, still air. “Twelve o’clock!” it called. “And Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Bonzo,” said the tramp to his dog. Then he dragged a rotting wooden box over to the pole, stood on it so that he could see over the platform, and found himself looking into the faces of the mouse and his child, the elephant, the seal, and the frog.
Inside the house the blue jay reporter broke off an interview with the starlings as he heard the clock strike twelve. “Excuse me,” he said, and stepped out onto the porch. “EXTRA!” he yelled. “SEASON’S GREETINGS, FEELINGS OF INTENSE GOOD WILL EXPRESSED BY ALL.” Then he squawked and drew back hastily as he saw a great, staring, whiskered face before him.
The tramp saw father and son with their family and friends about them. He saw The Last Visible Dog in all the brightness of its lights against the night; he heard the singing and the merriment inside; and he smiled and spoke to the mouse and his child for the second time.
“Be happy,” said the tramp.
I am delighted to acknowledge my indebtedness to Ferdinand Monjo for his perceptive criticism and continuing encouragement through three years of work on this book; without him I think it might have taken ten.
First published in 1967, The Mouse and His Child was Russell Hoban’s first full-length novel for readers of any age. In a career spanning four decades and more than sixty books, he has written such children’s classics as Bedtime for Frances and The Marzipan Pig, adult fiction including Riddley Walker and Turtle Diary, and several collections of poetry and essays.
David Small calls The Mouse and His Child “one of the reasons I went into children’s literature. If books like this were possible, I wanted to help make them.” Many other stories and illustrations came first, however, including his own Imogene’s Antlers and Paper John, as well as pictures for stories written by his wife, Sarah Stewart. These include The Library and The Gardener, which was a Caldecott Honor Book. David won the 2001 Caldecott Medal for So You Want To Be President? by Judith St. George. David and Sarah live in a village on a river in Michigan.
* * *
The verse from the poem “Leap Before You Look,” which appears at the beginning of this book, is from Collected Poetry of W. H. Auden, copyright 1945 by W. H. Auden. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc., and Faber and Faber Ltd., London.
* * *
TEXT COPYRIGHT © 1967 BY RUSSELL HOBAN
ILLUSTRATIONS COPYRIGHT © 2001 BY DAVID SMALL
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and the LANTERN LOGO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Hoban, Russell.
The mouse and his child / by Russell Hoban ; illustrated by David Small. p. cm.
Summary: Two discarded mice survive perilous adventures in a hostile world before finding security and happiness with old friends and new.
ISBN 0-439-09826-2 [1. Toys—Fiction. 2. Mice—Fiction. 3. Family—Fiction. 4. Dollhouses—Fiction. 5. Animals—Fiction.] I. Small, David, 1945- ill. II. Title.
PZ7.H637 Mr 2001 [Fic]--dc21 00-038453
First printing, September 2001
This book was designed and art directed by David Saylor. David Small’s artwork for the cover and the interior was created with charcoal pencil, ink, and ink washes.
e-ISBN 978-1-338-04305-1
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Russell Hoban, The Mouse and His Child
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends