The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Cleary, B., & Darling, L. (1965). The mouse and the motorcycle

Genre: modern fantasy

Age Group: 3^rd-5^th grade

Summary:  This is a light-hearted story about a mouse, Ralph, who lives in a hotel in California.  Ralph lives with his family and enjoys the hotel.  One of his favorite aspects of the hotel is the “messy people” because they leave scraps for Ralph and his family in the hotel.  Ralph is very audacious and wants to explore the world of the hotel but the housemaids cause him to stay close to his family, because they do a good job at keeping the hotel very clean and tidy.  Ralph’s adventures begin when a family comes to stay.  A friendship between a young boy, and Keith begins to grow.  Keith has a toy motorcycle that he teaches Ralph to ride and later, when Keith, is in need of Ralph’s help, the toy motorcycle comes in handy and Ralph saves the day!

Reflection:  This story is a sweet and endearing story of a friendship between a mouse and a young boy.  This modern fantasy personifies Ralph, giving him human-like qualities.  Ralph feels emotions- pain, happiness and desire.  He gets so excited when he sees the motorcycle for the first time and he has a strong desire throughout the story to want to see more of the world.  This story has a progressive, simple plot.  There is a simple introduction of the hotel; the various details of it and the personality of Ralph are in the story’s beginning.  Keith and Ralph then meet and a strong friendship forms.  The climax of the story, I would say is when Keith gets very ill and is in need of an aspirin.  Ralph knows that he needs to help him, but he is worried about the housemaids.  When Ralph’s bravery takes over, he puts Keith’s life in front of his own.  Ralph takes the motorcycle on a journey to the lobby, getting an aspirin that will in turn save Keith’s life. I think Clearly has a clever way of showing the theme of “friendship and bravery” in this story that would relate well to children. I highly recommend this story!