The Little Drummer Mouse

by Mercer Mayer

Based on the beloved carol "The Little Drummer Boy," this warm tale illuminates the origin of Christmas with cozy storytelling and glowing, beautifully detailed artwork. Mercer Mayer's shy little drummer mouse finds his way to the manger, and joyfully discovers that even he has a gift to share.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Music

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Mercer Mayer is an American children's author and illustrator. He has published over 300 books, using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is best known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series of books.

Reviews

[Kay Mcgriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, I'm not trying to rush Christmas, but I love Mercer Mayer! This retelling of "The Little Drummer Boy" puts a tiny mouse in the starring role. I enjoyed the story, but it was the paintings that really drew me in. I could get lost in in picture, looking for more and more details to surprise and delight me.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is extremely cute! A nice retelling of the night that a special baby was born. Also, a heartwarming tale of a mouse just waiting to be heard. =)

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really neat twist to a familiar story. Illustrations are outstanding and oh so cute.

[Lauren Kramer-Theuerkauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Little Drummer Mouse by Mercer Mayer is a twist on a holiday classic. Little mouse is the smallest of his brothers and sisters. His mother constantly worries that he will get lost. She decides to make a drum for him out of an acorn.

The little mouse loves playing his drum. He plays it everywhere that he goes. But the town's creatures are tired of the noisy mouse.

Meanwhile, the town has just received word that the royal family who is to give birth to the new king of the world will be passing through their very forest. They quickly begin making preparations for the regal convoy.

When the town's creatures think they have been stood up by the royal family, they decide to celebrate anyway. But the little mouse soon discovers something that will change their lives forever.

I thought that this was a fun take on a Christmas classic. Mayer weaves the story of little mouse so beautifully. I also love the idea of animals celebrating the birth of the king.

The illustrations are absolutely stunning. With images that fill the page, children will be drawn to the festive, winter scenes. I also love how Mayer amplifies the world of animals.

The only disconnect that I found with this story was the fact that the humans could talk to the animals. I feel that this takes a lot of the magic and mystery out of the tale. When I was a child, I loved the idea of animals helping humans without their knowledge. To me, having the animals interact with the humans takes away a bit of the story's sparkle.

Overall, this is a fun read for children ages 3-6.

[Alyssa (The Shady Glade) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you may have guessed from the title, this one is a Nativity retelling, and specifically a retelling of the Little Drummer Boy myth. But since it takes place with a mouse main character, you can pretty much figure that it will turn out a lot different that than the traditional tale. Overall, it was a cute story, and I did enjoy the twist Mercer Mayer put on the tale.

You can definitely tell this is one of Mayer's more recent books, as the mice and animals definitely have a "little critter" type quality to the illustrations. I think it was their eyes. But the animals are so cute and very detailed, whimsical yet realistic at the same time.

The only thing that bugged me was the "timeperiod" the book seems to be set in. If you subscribe to the story of the Nativity as it's presented in the Bible like I do, then you're used to seeing it portrayed in ancient Israel. But this setting defintely tended towards more the medieval age. I didn't really notice it at first, but you can really see it in the female animal's clothing and the hats the animals wear as the story moves on. Of course, as soon as you see Mary, Joseph, and Jesus you can see why Mayer chose that route, and he definitely painted the holy family in the classic medieval Renaissance-esque style. Once you see that, the whole choice makes sense in retrospect, but it still kind of bugged me.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in the book are amazingly beautiful. They carry and present the story very well. The story is a mouse version of the Little Drummer Boy. It is nicely done. A sweet book for small children and those who love the beauty in picture books.

Story: The Little Mouse is always following and being made fun of by others. His mother give him an acorn drum. Whenever he plays it, everyone around him in his tiny village gets annoyed. He is told to go play in the fields, which he gladly does. When it is found out that a royal family is passing by, all the animals decide that they want to do something special. Unfortunately, they are left disappointed when only a man, his wife and a donkey pass by. Later that night, Little Mouse is awake in his bed and notices a star he has never seen before. He follows it and runs into three men who are looking for a child in a manger. He goes along with them. Once at the manger, the three wise men give the baby gifts and proceed to play music. Little Mouse joins in with his drum. Before long, he is the only one playing. The beautiful mother of the baby, tells Little Mouse that her baby really loves hearing him play the drums. For the first time, Little Mouse feels like he is leading and his is most happy and proud of his talent. A great inspirational story for all little mice.

[Thuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

four stars for giving me goose bumps and engaging the 3 year old in something of a side story to a very familiar one. it's like "where were you when He was born".
'twas the night after christmas, when I pulled out this book out to read to my 3 year old which was randomly grabbed from the library next to all the little critter books.

I read it without any expectations of what the story was. I'm not even remotely christian so I don't know the little drummer boy story other than hearing some songs that reference him, (im Buddhist) but reading this book the day after a week of opening and giving Christmas gifts, in addition to us making magic happen by setting out cookies for Santa and taking a bite out of the cookies with presents from santa while she slept...i just had goose bumps when the mouse ran into the three kings after having seen a new star.

I was obliged to reinforce what we told her what Christmas was about, and that billions of people celebrate the birth of someone that's very special to billions of people old and new after seeing the baby in this book ... I think she felt something at the end if the book...cuz she was suddenly content to sleep after this 3rd book of the night.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book with a good message. I liked what it teaches about outward appearances, as well as the individual gifts we can each offer, each important but different. I loved the illustrations, especially the little mouse. My 3 year old and I had a fun time looking for him on each page.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely illustrations, and the story was sweet! I was confused why there were all these forest creatures with their middle ages looking clothes and instruments in . . . Israel, though. It made the suspension of disbelief a bit difficult

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how the mom in this story helped her child find something that made him happy, that helped her keep track of him and that helped him find favor with others. May we all be as bright of parents!

[Thomas Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the author doesn't understand the nativity. Animals in the vacinity would know what a camel was. And there was no Santa Claus line waiting to see the Baby Jesus or an Evangelical rock band in the stable.

[Maly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's such a cute story about the first Christmas.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable look at the nativity story from a different perspective. Beautifully illustrated and even hints at how when preparing for a king, some might not notice the poor couple on the donkey.

[Alexandria K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aww this book has pretty pictures in it. The story is cute, too.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the classic story about the birth of Christ but with a fun twist.

There's depth to the art; it's worth studying each page.

[Benjamin Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun twist on the Little Drummer Boy story. Animal characters can help get the children interested in the story.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with Naomi.

[Miss Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

E MAY

This is a fun spin on the Little Drummer Boy story- but with a mouse. Teaching us, yet again, your size is not what defines you- but what you share and how you share!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but pretty standard. A little too religious for the classroom

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the author's acknowledgement of the First Christmas.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was like the Little Drummer Boy but with a mouse.

[Jeff Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to the grandkids. Illustrations are lovely, but just a little busy for them to fully understand.

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 3 out of 5]

A retelling of the little drummer boy that I read on the recommendation of an artist friend who loved the illustrations. I did, and you will, too!

[Jessica Hembree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each year my family reads from our collection of Christmas books each night. Tonight our book was about the sweet little drummer mouse. While the story is sweet and cute, our favorite part of this book is the amazing illustrations.

[Tori Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I was astonished at the illustrations for this book. They are so different from Mercer Mayer's iconic style and were likely done digitally. This was a sweet retelling of The Little Drummer Boy and my kids enjoyed it.

[Moriyah Cordova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet story of a little drummer boy mouse playing for the king of kings. In interesting blend of the Christmas story set in a snowy wood. The illustrations are wonderful! My siblings loved searching for the little drummer mouse, which made the story feel interactive.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pleasant re-make of the Little Drummer Boy story, with animal characters. Nice illustrations!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations! With G.

[The Transmuted Tree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red 3rd

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was floored with how beautiful the illustrations and storyline was. It moved me to tears with the simple tale of the smallest giving their all.