The Mouse and the Motorcycle

I grew up reading just about everything that Beverly Clearly wrote, and while it would be impossible for me to choose a favorite, Ralph S. Mouse’s adventure with a boy named Keith, who is vacationing in the Mountain View Inn with his family, is one that doesn’t get old, even after all these years. What kid wouldn’t love a story about a talking mouse, not to mention a mouse that saves the day riding a toy motorcycle in search of medicine for his sick new human friend? I certainly did! And if you can’t get enough of Ralph, there are… show more.

This book completely captured my imagination when my teacher, in a very successful bid to corral a large class of third-graders, read it aloud to us after recess. So I’m recommending it as a riveting read-aloud. There was no question in my mind, at least while my teacher was reading to us, that a mouse might dream of riding a motorcycle. Nor was I skeptical that the boy who owned the motorcycle would befriend that mouse, and that they would have a falling out, and ultimately be reconciled, as friends often are. No, it all seemed very plausible to me.… show more.