Mouse House

by Rumer Godden

There is never any room for Bonnie, the baby mouse, in the flower pot, so she goes looking for a new mouse house.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Classics, Animals, Fiction, Fantasy, Juvenile

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Margaret Rumer Godden was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably Black Narcissus in 1947 and The River in 1951.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.

Reviews

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - cute children’s book from the late 50’s - very tender & kind

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very cute story with a strong, descriptive narrative. I do always enjoy picture books better when the authors don't shy away from a rich vocabulary!

The illustrations are darling too!

Ages: 5-10

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[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet, old-fashioned children’s book, about a family of mice, especially baby Bonnie, who need a new home. They are inadvertently helped by Mary, a human child; I won’t say more than that. The plot is short and simple, with a mild adventure suitable for the youngest preschoolers (up to early school-age kiddos). There are themes of belonging, and of helpfulness.

This is more of a read-aloud book, for parents, grandparents, or teachers to enjoy with little ones. Though the story is easily comprehensible, much of the vocabulary is above the “easy reader” level. Also, words like “tweed,” “ muslin,” “looking glass,” “larder,” and others from earlier eras, are likely to need explaining. I love the challenging language in this tale, to expand a child’s vocabulary.

The illustrations are by Adrienne Adams, and appear to have been done in pencil and colored pencil, with a limited palette. They are gentle and slightly blurred, giving an “all-will-turn-out-well” feel to the story. The tiny, rounded, light-brown mice are very cute.

This 63-page illustrated story was written by Rumer Godden, and published in 1957. She was a popular children’s author when I was small, and I’m currently re-reading a dozen or so of her children’s books.

From the author’s bio in the back:

“Rumer Godden (1907-1998) grew up in India, where her father ran a steamship company. When her husband left her penniless in Calcutta with two daughters to raise, she turned to writing to pay off her many debts. She wrote more than sixty books for adults and young adults, including The Doll’s House, Impunity Jane, and The Greengage Summer.”

Often writers will write their own bio blurbs, and I feel certain that this author must have. I applaud her for bluntly pointing to her husband’s abandonment in her bio, and am so glad that a woman in that position, in that era, went on to become a successful and celebrated author. One who was able to both use her talent to support her family on her own, as well as to delight young readers with her tales.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adrienne Adams is such a good match for Rumer Godden's stories.

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟 A cute little adventure for a girl mouse who needed a house. If I liked mice better, I would have given this book a higher score. I enjoy Rumer Godden's writing, so I wanted to read this children's story...but, alas, the mouse family details gave me a little shiver. But, the illustrations are so lovely and go perfectly with this book. I'm sure children would love it.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary received a little toy Mouse House with toy mice to play with. But she is disappointed that they are not real mice. They just sit there. They don't run and scamper like a real mouse would do. Meanwhile in the basement, a family of mice are cramped in their flowerpot home. There are so many children that they can't all fit! Bonnie, the littlest mouse, goes searching for a new place to sleep. She explores the upstairs and discovers the Mouse House. Bonnie falls asleep in the toy bed, but in the morning, Mary discovers her!

This book is so cute! I love the charming writing style and the delightful story. Mary is a sweet little girl, and Bonnie is so adorable! I love stories about mice, because they are so little and resilient.

The color illustrations are so pretty, and I love the pencil art style!

This would be a great book for children who are reading chapter books on their own. It's not quite a picture book, but it does have illustrations on each page. The text is a bit larger than normal, so that it would be just right for young readers.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the language use in this charming story. Mice "whisk" and they "flick". This is another entry in the genre of little girls and their cunning little doll houses and doll people, with a twist. Here the little girl is disappointed in the dullness of her stuffed mice, and enchanted when she encounters the real thing.

Rumer Godden is a wondrous writer of both adult and children's books who has been lost to today's readers due to changing fashions in publishing. Do yourself a favor and check her out.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This children's book, originally published in 1957, contains charming illustrations drawn by Adrienne Adams to accompany Rumer Godden's delightful tale of a young girl's jewelry box and the mouse family who repurpose it.. Rereading it brought to mind fond memories of curling up in my favorite little cubby and reading of a character, Bonnie Mouse, smaller than me, in fact, the smallest in her family who has the wherewithal, bravery, gumption and a little good fortune to change her circumstances and make a better life for herself and her family.

[Kate Picher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the Year of the Mouse, so I started with a cute book about mice. The illustrations are wonderful. I giggled a few times at the silliness of it all, which is a sign of a well-concieved story.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a darling book! I read it aloud to my 7 year old and she immediately asked me to read it again.

[polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Rumer Godden's books. Mouse House is a sweet story with even sweet illustrations, and the pacing reminds me a little bit of Holly & Ivy (one of our favorite Christmas stories). It's a simple book and would be a nice early reader for an emerging reader--but the language is complex enough so that it's interesting for adults to read aloud to children (unlike some early readers). I wouldn't classify it as a "reader" though--just a picture book.

Charming and sweet, with a little adventure and a touch of sadness, but a strangely happy ending--just like Holly and Ivy!

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remembered enjoying Rumer Godden books when I was little so checked Mouse House out from the library to read to the five-year-old, and then found myself needing to edit on the fly:

"Father Mouse scolded the children. “Naughty! Bad mice!” he said. “They can’t help it,” said Mother Mouse. “There are too many of them.” Then he scolded her. “You shouldn’t have had so many,” he said."

Ah, 1957! Though it’s not like folks don’t still think this way, they’re just subtler about it now.

[cathryn rauh · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I remembered it!

I got mouse house a couple of years after it was first published, after I was finished with it (I read and re-read it many times!), my younger brother and then sister enjoyed it. That copy died long ago, but I’ve now bought it on kindle for my niece and several
Grandkids! The story is as sweet as I remember it to be!

[Kristyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 3-year-old sat for this entire book. We read it in one sitting (25 minutes). A delightful picture book for kids not quite ready for chapter books but who can sit for longer than the standard picture book.
Feb. 2015.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dad-mouse is a real deadbeat, although that's not the focus of the story, which is surprisingly nuanced for a children's book about character and situation (no give-aways here), which means parents will enjoy it, too.

[Two BookWorms Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mouse House presents a story which, despite having been written sixty years ago, will still charm today’s audience.

For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...

[Marmot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that has us all laughing. I bought it as we have enjoyed playing with our own home made “mouse house” for years and it seemed perfect. It’s more of a picture book than I expected, read it in about 15 minutes , and the kids were keen to read it again the following evening

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorable story! This is a fantastic example of the perfect balance of pragmatism and romanticism that older children's literature hits so well.

[MrsLynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet story. Plan to use the idea for my grandkids someday!

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl receives a jewelry box as gift from her father, but decides to use it as a house for two toy stuffed mice, but it soon becomes a house with real mice living in it.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming little story with darling illustrations.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books reminded me strongly of Beatrix Potter's "Tale of Two Bad Mice". My four year old enjoyed reading it once, although we had to pause often -he asked what 'scullery' and 'coal bin' mean.

[Jacklyn (ReadingBliss) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is apart of the stack of titles I am reading to preread before my children. While it is from the 1950s- a more trusted time for children’s literature- I am careful to check messages and undertones in stories before handing them over to my children. I thought this was a cute story appropriate for early readers with the exception of one message. A message I saw another reviewer quoted, where the father scolds the children and then scolds the wife for her “having too many kids”. I, personally, plan to blackout this line or discuss with my child how he was an immature and unaccountable “man” who took no responsibility for his part in the makings of his family. I also noticed the father mouse was painted as lazy. Without that direct line about scolding his wife, these messages are undertones and will go over most children’s heads. The author wove the character of the father mouse to be all-present, and yet subtle, at the same time. If I were a young adult, I might not have picked up on it if I had not had any experience or education to learn about what is discussed in those undertones. I will also mention that the father mouse seemed to be oppressive to the wife and it was in the one scene that gave me that implication that I started to wonder about the author’s personal life and if it had bled into her children’s stories. Upon finishing the book, there was a note about the author on the last page, and it did in fact imply her ill treatment and confirm her abandonment from her own husband.

If you don’t mind the undertone message, it is fine. I wish it had been better, but overall enjoyed my time while reading it. It will never be a classic, in my opinion, and it’s not something I will want to read repeatedly.

[Martyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. It's not a particularly original story (or if it was, many other books have been written in a similar vein subsequently). It reminded me somewhat of the Puddle Lane books of a later generation. I liked Adrienne Adams' mice illustrations, but everything else apart from the mice I found rather boring, and greatly disliked her design for the Mouse House which had no charm about it whatsoever. A child would probably enjoy the story but I found nothing in it to engage my interest, and if I was a parent I'm not sure it would be a story I would enjoy having to read time and time again to a child. I don't think much of the style of writing either. Godden has an unconventional way of structuring her sentences which can be rather awkward to read and don't always make total sense.

[Suzanne LaPierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a child - I won an art contest in early elementary school making a poster about it! The text is a bit dated (gender stereotypes) - it is from 1957 after all, but the story is still charming. I liked that the girl is bored with the dollhouse and fake mice and prefers the live mice. The message that a "good" home is in the eye of the beholder is also fun. (Mice prefer messy houses and use the dollhouse decorations in ways humans wouldn't think of). It is one of the few books I saved from my childhood, maybe because of the memory of my classmates appreciating my drawing skills when I paid tribute to it, but also because it captured my imagination. I was the kind of girl who liked mice more than dolls, like the girl in the book.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenges: Wayward Children/Be Sure/The Wild Sasha - South/Underworld (1, happy; 8, red; bonus: under 200 pages; Reading Goal Posts/22 in 2022/new-to-me authors to read/try in 2022. A charming story about the ideal use of a gift from a father to his daughter. Inspired by a real mouse house per the author's dedication. Bonnie, a little mouse, becomes lost in a large house and makes a surprising discovery. Pencil drawings by Caldecott Honor winner Adrienne Adams, mainly in blushing red and blue, lend to the light-handed touch of the story.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The illustrations were nice and
attractive and appropriate.

I think this book was a chapter
book not a picture book although
it was not actually divided into
distinct chapters.

I think the plot in this children's
picture book was fairly creative
and rather well thought out.

I thought this book was good not
absolutely great. Children in general
would enjoy it.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember playing with my little sister with her little mice. She may have had a mouse house like Mary in the story. This is truly an old fashioned book with old fashioned ideas, but it is a sweet story and beautifully illustrated.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that captured my children’s imagination. They now want to recreate the mouse house, though without the love mice. Godden writes beautifully the authentic voices and inner thoughts and feelings of both a whimsical little girl and an overlooked little mouse child.