Mouse House

By Rumer Godden

Illustrated by Adrienne Adams

Copyright 1957

I remember Mouse House as the first book with a substantial amount of text that my oldest daughter sat through.  The story of Bonnie, a real little mouse who needed a place to sleep, captured her attention enough so she could sit still for at least a half hour – just enough time for my voice to grow a little hoarse!  But I didn’t mind.  I was thrilled that she was enraptured by a story enough to not need many pictures.

Bonnie is the youngest and smallest of many mouse siblings.  There just isn’t enough room in their flower pot home in the cellar, and Bonnie continually gets pushed out onto the cold floor.  Finally, she’s had enough of that and went upstairs in search of a better place to sleep.  Luckily, she finds a real little house with furniture and carpets that Mary was given as a gift.  

Bonnie sleeps comfortably in a warm bed, but is frightened in the morning when she realizes she can’t get out through the shut door and windows.  In her panic, she dashes to and fro, knocking over the furniture and ripping up the carpets.  When Mary discovers the tiny house is in ruins, she relegates it to the cellar.  How lucky for the mouse family!  Now they all take over the little house (after ripping the door off its hinges) and there is room enough for everyone.

Bonnie realizes that if she had never been pushed out onto the cold cellar floor, her family would not have the wonderful little house.

Lesson for the day:  Sometimes it takes plenty of discomfort and pain to force us to search for what we really need.  And sometimes, we just might find something that’s better than we could have possibly imagined!