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Thelonious Mouse
Thelonious the mouse has got so much rhythm in him he can’t help letting it out. To his family’s horror, he won’t stop scatting and shimmying around the house, teasing deadly Fat Cat instead of collecting crumbs like the rest of them. But just as Thelonious's games become too dangerous, he find a most unexpected musical partner in this jaunty picture book with art and text that truly sing!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2011
8 people want to read
About the author
Orel Protopopescu
7 books4 followersI grew up with two older sisters in Hempstead, Long Island, a town considered, throughout the 1950s, to be a model of integration. My mother was a dedicated third-grade teacher in an inner-city school. I devoured all the books she brought me. My father, a lawyer who preferred bridge and backgammon to the law, taught me chess and told stories that made me laugh. He was born in Russia and named me for a Russian city, something that I was often teased about at school. It was the Cold War. We had frequent air-raid drills where we had to crouch down in the hallways with our coats over our heads. I was also teased for being the only kid in school who’d skipped the fourth grade.
Still, I loved my neighborhood, with its people of every color and nationality. Our friends from Jamaica taught us the limbo. Gospel music spilled out of the Baptist church, jazz and rhythm and blues from many houses. I rode my bike everywhere, making up poems in my head. I recently wrote a poem that won a prize in Oberon poetry magazine’s 2006 contest, judged by Louis Simpson. The opening lines paint a picture of me in high school: “Where is the girl who forgot to eat, / who thought nothing of riding a bike / thirty miles to Manhattan after school, / who recited poems in the grass by candlelight, / chanted hymns of praise to trees and stars, / read books as she wrote them in her sleep . . .”
By the middle of the 1960s, our family alone was integrating our street and I had a keener awareness of the inequalities in American life. I joined the Long Island Congress of Racial Equality and picketed Hempstead Town Hall wearing a sign that said, “Slums Are the Shame of Hempstead.” You can see that fifteen-year-old me in a book Lillian Smith wrote about the civil rights movement: Our Faces, Our Words. Today, I’m still an activist.
When I was sixteen, my mother died of cancer. By then, my father had lost his job. That was a terrible time. But in my senior year, I won a debating contest and ended up as a delegate to the New York Herald Tribune World Youth Forum. We were taken all over Europe, meeting heads of state. I met the Bolivian delegate and, after graduate school, married him.
We have two daughters, born in 1978 and 1982. They are two reasons I began writing for children. Before, I’d worked as a storyteller and a writer and producer of educational films.
I started my teaching career at my kitchen table, leading a writing club for my older daughter and her friends. Soon, my first two picture books were published. The second, The Perilous Pit (illustrated by Jacqueline Chwast), was a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 1993. My book of translations of Chinese poetry (coauthored by Siyu Liu), A Thousand Peaks: Poems from China, was selected for the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age 2003 list. Two Sticks (illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf) appeared on Farrar, Straus and Giroux’s Spring 2007 list. This humorous picture book in rhymed verse grew from the music of my childhood, as did my forthcoming book, Thelonious Mouse, which I look forward to working on with my editor, Melanie Kroupa.
Of all the reviews of my writing and teaching, the one I treasure most came from a former student, Christine Slatest, now an English teacher. A poem she wrote in fifth grade appears in my book Metaphors & Similes You Can Eat and 12 More Great Poetry Writing Lessons. Christine wrote, “My interest in writing poetry began in Mrs. Protopopescu’s workshops. Her visits to my elementary school changed my life.” An author/teacher can’t hope for more than that.
Still, I loved my neighborhood, with its people of every color and nationality. Our friends from Jamaica taught us the limbo. Gospel music spilled out of the Baptist church, jazz and rhythm and blues from many houses. I rode my bike everywhere, making up poems in my head. I recently wrote a poem that won a prize in Oberon poetry magazine’s 2006 contest, judged by Louis Simpson. The opening lines paint a picture of me in high school: “Where is the girl who forgot to eat, / who thought nothing of riding a bike / thirty miles to Manhattan after school, / who recited poems in the grass by candlelight, / chanted hymns of praise to trees and stars, / read books as she wrote them in her sleep . . .”
By the middle of the 1960s, our family alone was integrating our street and I had a keener awareness of the inequalities in American life. I joined the Long Island Congress of Racial Equality and picketed Hempstead Town Hall wearing a sign that said, “Slums Are the Shame of Hempstead.” You can see that fifteen-year-old me in a book Lillian Smith wrote about the civil rights movement: Our Faces, Our Words. Today, I’m still an activist.
When I was sixteen, my mother died of cancer. By then, my father had lost his job. That was a terrible time. But in my senior year, I won a debating contest and ended up as a delegate to the New York Herald Tribune World Youth Forum. We were taken all over Europe, meeting heads of state. I met the Bolivian delegate and, after graduate school, married him.
We have two daughters, born in 1978 and 1982. They are two reasons I began writing for children. Before, I’d worked as a storyteller and a writer and producer of educational films.
I started my teaching career at my kitchen table, leading a writing club for my older daughter and her friends. Soon, my first two picture books were published. The second, The Perilous Pit (illustrated by Jacqueline Chwast), was a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 1993. My book of translations of Chinese poetry (coauthored by Siyu Liu), A Thousand Peaks: Poems from China, was selected for the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age 2003 list. Two Sticks (illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf) appeared on Farrar, Straus and Giroux’s Spring 2007 list. This humorous picture book in rhymed verse grew from the music of my childhood, as did my forthcoming book, Thelonious Mouse, which I look forward to working on with my editor, Melanie Kroupa.
Of all the reviews of my writing and teaching, the one I treasure most came from a former student, Christine Slatest, now an English teacher. A poem she wrote in fifth grade appears in my book Metaphors & Similes You Can Eat and 12 More Great Poetry Writing Lessons. Christine wrote, “My interest in writing poetry began in Mrs. Protopopescu’s workshops. Her visits to my elementary school changed my life.” An author/teacher can’t hope for more than that.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 2, 2013
Hilariously clever verse and illustrations! The author successfully conveyed in words the unstoppable, bee-boppable musical drive of Thelonious Monk, the infamous artist the mouse impersonates. The obvious punning around with the theme of the "fat cat", along with the way the mouse has to "scat" are just a few of the delights of this picture book.
For ages 5-9, and adults, too!
For ages 5-9, and adults, too!
June 30, 2011
Jazz brings together cat and mouse together. Good, lively fun.
July 24, 2011
I loved this book and read it to my two Siamese kittens who clearly responded to the cadence and excitement of the musical flow.
January 12, 2019
I think I would have appreciated this more if I were more familiar with the work of Thelonius Monk. I had a hard time hearing the beat of the music that Thelonious Mouse created in the book. The illustrations aren’t my favorite, either
October 13, 2021
One of my all-time favorite picture books. The rhyme is memorable and brilliant--just like the music of Thelonius Monk!
March 20, 2012
I won a signed copy of Thelonious Mouse in a drawing held by the author. I was drawn to the cover and the title because they implied sass and humor. I was not disappointed. The pictures are lively and the text is jazzy. Thelonious is a little bit too sure of himself and cocky, but he's a precocious character who knows no fear. The story of a musical mouse who just can't help himself winning over the cat through music is a good one. I would have preferred a little less telling and a little more showing, but in the main, I enjoyed it very much. I also believe it will be a hit with children because of its energy. Parents will have to wet their whistles before they read this one aloud. It's a mouthful when Thelonious is at his scatting best.
October 25, 2011
Thelonious Mouse is a snazzy and jazzy mouse that can't help but move to the beat. Much to the displeasure of this parents, Thelonious Mouse tries to get Fat Cat to jump and jive with him as well. With some near cat-and-the-mouse games gone bad, Fat Cat finally becomes the Glad Cat and pings and sings with his newfound friends, the mice.
Perhaps I am off the beat, but this story fell flat for me. It was too cumbersome to read and the rhythm didn't flow well. The text was way too long to keep the interest of young kids and I'm not sure how an older audience would take to it. Great illustrations but poor story.
Perhaps I am off the beat, but this story fell flat for me. It was too cumbersome to read and the rhythm didn't flow well. The text was way too long to keep the interest of young kids and I'm not sure how an older audience would take to it. Great illustrations but poor story.
June 22, 2011
I didn't quite get this one. Way too long for a toddler storytime, and I think I'd start to lose the interest of the preschool group. A school-age group would probably stare at me in, well, that stare they have. The ending was predictable for me. And the text did not flow for me. It felt a bit wonky. At one point, I thought it was a translation thing. But I think English was its first published language. The story is OK and his narrow escapes may interest children in a lap-read or read-alone. It just didn't get me. Perhaps because I don't quite have the beat.
July 24, 2011
This is a jazz happy book with wonderful rhyming scats, funny play-on words with fun-loving characters, especially Thelonious. How endearing! How brave! Thelonious is my favorite character.
Wonderfully illustrated with a lot of movement and color. Good rhyming books are hard to find, but great funny rhyming books with rich characters are rare. This is a gem of a book.
Ms. Protopopescu's poetry is masterful and lyrical. I couldn't stop tapping my toes. Yes, this book is fun, fun...fun!
Wonderfully illustrated with a lot of movement and color. Good rhyming books are hard to find, but great funny rhyming books with rich characters are rare. This is a gem of a book.
Ms. Protopopescu's poetry is masterful and lyrical. I couldn't stop tapping my toes. Yes, this book is fun, fun...fun!
May 3, 2012
My three-year-old really liked this book! I think the jazzy, spunky mouse was just too cool to deny. I think if I looked at this on a deeper level, I wouldn't love some things about it, but since I'm not really in the mood to do a literary analysis on the themes of this story, I'll just leave it at this: my son loved it.
July 1, 2014
Thelonious mouse is full of music and can’t stop the beat or his singing even when his life is in danger from fat cat. With the cat always on his heels, Thelonious must find a way to make music his salvation. Using a few great hiding spots that further develop his musical style, Thelonious sets to work making a musical convert out Fat Cat and his family.
August 27, 2016
Delightful tongue twisting picture book is sure to enhance both children and their pretend grown-up readers. You’ll be tapping your feet and singing sweet, but who could fall asleep after this story. Wilsdorf’s drawings are so much fun you, can see the movement.
July 25, 2014
I'm giving this a 3-star rating because my child loved it but I didn't. He thought Thelonious Mouse was so funny and he loved the little things he sang but as a parent, I thought the "rhymes" were awkward.
June 1, 2014
Thelonious Mouse is a story of a musically inclined young mouse who lives with his family in a cat occupied house. The title is a play on words referencing the late great jazz pianist Thelonius Munk.
August 14, 2011
I enjoy jazz music, so I had to read this one! Not a homerun, but cute enough.
September 16, 2011
While not one that I would venture to use in storytime, this book would work nicely for schoolage audiences, possibly in relation to a study of jazz music or rhythm.
September 21, 2011
I enjoyed the singing the mouse's cool songs and scats. The boys thought this one was pretty funny.
October 3, 2011
Would like to give this 3 stars for allowing the cat to be more than the villain of the piece, but the rhythms here aren't as rhythmic as they should be and the storytelling is wobbly.
December 29, 2012
Super fun read aloud rhythmic book. A great vocal warm-up and beautiful illustrations.
May 26, 2015
This is rather a cute story, and I am a sucker for musical stories, but it was just way too loooooooooong. I understand buildup, but the story was so long that the impact of the ending was lost.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews