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The Princess Mouse: A Tale of Finland
TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS -- A READER'S THEATER SCRIPT OF THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN AARON'S BOOK "FOLKTALES ON STAGE," OR FREE ON AARON'S WEB SITE.
PLEASE CLICK "SHOW MORE," BELOW, TO SEE HONORS, REVIEWS, SAMPLE TEXT, AND AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR INFO.
In Mikko's family, young men find their sweethearts by cutting down a tree and following where it points. As his father says, "That's how we've done it, and that's how we always will."
Though Mikko's brother makes his tree fall how he wants, Mikko's tree seems to have ideas of its own. So, what is Mikko to do when it sends him into the forest and all he finds there is a mouse? And what if the mouse offers gladly to be his sweetheart, and even passes the test that is set by Mikko's father?
This sweet tale from Finland shows that even a mouse can be special, and that trees may well fall true.
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Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of "The Baker's Dozen," "The Sea King's Daughter," "The Adventures of Mouse Deer," and many more children's books. His stories have appeared often in Cricket magazine, while his Web site is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater.
Leonid Gore is the Russian-born illustrator of numerous acclaimed picture books.
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2003 New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing"
"Magical events and a moral dilemma give this Finnish tale its staying power. Gore's distinctively angled figures deepen the folktale feel. The northern spring can almost be felt." -- Publishers Weekly, Dec. 9, 2002
"The language is bright and cheery throughout, with the kind of repetition children and storytellers love. . . . Prettily told, with sweet lessons about love and trust, no matter how odd the circumstances." -- Kirkus Reviews, Dec. 15, 2002
"Shepard's charmingly droll version combines classic elements with unexpected, witty details. . . . The jewel-toned art has beautiful luminescence; the elongated, somewhat blocky look of the characters reinforces the fantasy; and the mice are downright irresistible. . . . Quirky, enjoyable, and easily adapted for storytime." -- Shelle Rosenfeld, American Library Association Booklist, Feb. 1, 2003
"Shepard does his usual capable job of retelling this old tale in clear, simple, yet effective prose. . . . A pleasant, attractive addition to folklore shelves." -- Grace Oliff, School Library Journal, Feb. 2003
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SAMPLE
"All this way for nothing," he said sadly.
"Maybe not!" came a tiny voice.
Mikko looked around, but the only living thing in sight was a little mouse on a table. Standing on its hind legs, it gazed at him with large, bright eyes.
"Did you say something?" he asked it.
"Of course I did! Now, why don't you tell me your name and what you came for?"
Mikko had never talked with a mouse, but he felt it only polite to reply. "My name is Mikko, and I've come looking for a sweetheart."
The mouse squealed in delight. "Why, Mikko, I'll gladly be your sweetheart!"
"But you're only a mouse," said Mikko.
"That may be true," she said, "but I can still love you faithfully. Besides, even a mouse can be special! Come feel my fur."
With one finger, Mikko stroked the mouse's back. "Why, it feels like velvet! Just like the gown of a princess!"
"That's right, Mikko." And as he petted her, she sang to him prettily.
"Mikko's sweetheart will I be.
What a fine young man is he!
Gown of velvet I do wear,
Like a princess fine and rare."
PLEASE CLICK "SHOW MORE," BELOW, TO SEE HONORS, REVIEWS, SAMPLE TEXT, AND AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR INFO.
In Mikko's family, young men find their sweethearts by cutting down a tree and following where it points. As his father says, "That's how we've done it, and that's how we always will."
Though Mikko's brother makes his tree fall how he wants, Mikko's tree seems to have ideas of its own. So, what is Mikko to do when it sends him into the forest and all he finds there is a mouse? And what if the mouse offers gladly to be his sweetheart, and even passes the test that is set by Mikko's father?
This sweet tale from Finland shows that even a mouse can be special, and that trees may well fall true.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of "The Baker's Dozen," "The Sea King's Daughter," "The Adventures of Mouse Deer," and many more children's books. His stories have appeared often in Cricket magazine, while his Web site is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater.
Leonid Gore is the Russian-born illustrator of numerous acclaimed picture books.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
2003 New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing"
"Magical events and a moral dilemma give this Finnish tale its staying power. Gore's distinctively angled figures deepen the folktale feel. The northern spring can almost be felt." -- Publishers Weekly, Dec. 9, 2002
"The language is bright and cheery throughout, with the kind of repetition children and storytellers love. . . . Prettily told, with sweet lessons about love and trust, no matter how odd the circumstances." -- Kirkus Reviews, Dec. 15, 2002
"Shepard's charmingly droll version combines classic elements with unexpected, witty details. . . . The jewel-toned art has beautiful luminescence; the elongated, somewhat blocky look of the characters reinforces the fantasy; and the mice are downright irresistible. . . . Quirky, enjoyable, and easily adapted for storytime." -- Shelle Rosenfeld, American Library Association Booklist, Feb. 1, 2003
"Shepard does his usual capable job of retelling this old tale in clear, simple, yet effective prose. . . . A pleasant, attractive addition to folklore shelves." -- Grace Oliff, School Library Journal, Feb. 2003
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
SAMPLE
"All this way for nothing," he said sadly.
"Maybe not!" came a tiny voice.
Mikko looked around, but the only living thing in sight was a little mouse on a table. Standing on its hind legs, it gazed at him with large, bright eyes.
"Did you say something?" he asked it.
"Of course I did! Now, why don't you tell me your name and what you came for?"
Mikko had never talked with a mouse, but he felt it only polite to reply. "My name is Mikko, and I've come looking for a sweetheart."
The mouse squealed in delight. "Why, Mikko, I'll gladly be your sweetheart!"
"But you're only a mouse," said Mikko.
"That may be true," she said, "but I can still love you faithfully. Besides, even a mouse can be special! Come feel my fur."
With one finger, Mikko stroked the mouse's back. "Why, it feels like velvet! Just like the gown of a princess!"
"That's right, Mikko." And as he petted her, she sang to him prettily.
"Mikko's sweetheart will I be.
What a fine young man is he!
Gown of velvet I do wear,
Like a princess fine and rare."
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2003
78 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Shepard
102 books42 followersAaron Shepard is the author of many books, stories, and scripts for young people, as well as professional books and resources for writers and educators. He has also worked professionally in both storytelling and reader's theater, as a performer, director, and teacher trainer. Aaron's lively and meticulous retellings of folktales and other traditional literature have found homes with more than a dozen children's book publishers, large and small, and with the world's top children's literary magazines, winning him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society. His extensive Web site, visited by thousands of teachers and librarians each week, is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater, while his stories and scripts have been featured in textbooks from publishers worldwide, including Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, SRA, The College Board, Pearson Education, National Geographic, Oxford University Press, Barron's, Hodder Education, and McGraw-Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 5, 2020
When Mikko's farmer father declares that it is time for him and his brother to find brides, the young Finnish man finds himself embarking on a most unusual adventure. Following family tradition, he chops down a tree and sets out in the direction it has fallen - straight into the deep forest. Here he eventually finds a tiny cabin inhabited by a little mouse - a velvet-furred mouse who becomes Mikko's sweetheart, fulfilling all the requirements set by his father. But although the unusual pair do set out for the wedding ceremony in the end, the question remains: how can a man marry a mouse...?
A charming narrative from author Aaron Shepard is paired with lovely artwork from illustrator Leonid Gore in The Princess Mouse: A Tale of Finland. According to the author's note, the story here is a retelling of The Forest Bride, found in Parker Fillmore's 1922 Mighty Mikko: A Book of Finnish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales , although The Mouse Bride, in Tales From a Finnish Tupa , was also a source. For my part, I was reminded of similar folktales I have read, from other cultural traditions, and featuring other animals. The Latvian story of The Palace of the Cats, for instance, which is retold in Eric A. Kimmel's The Castle of the Cats , has a very similar story involving three brothers, the youngest of whom returns with a feline bride. Even the challenge involving the piece of needlework/weaving is similar, in the two stories! I enjoy finding these parallels between different folk traditions, and think tale types involving an enchanted bride or bridegroom - Beauty and the Beast is probably the most famous example - are fascinating. All that said, this was enjoyable in its own right, and is one I would recommend to all young folk and fairy-tale lovers, particularly those who enjoy a romantic ending.
A charming narrative from author Aaron Shepard is paired with lovely artwork from illustrator Leonid Gore in The Princess Mouse: A Tale of Finland. According to the author's note, the story here is a retelling of The Forest Bride, found in Parker Fillmore's 1922 Mighty Mikko: A Book of Finnish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales , although The Mouse Bride, in Tales From a Finnish Tupa , was also a source. For my part, I was reminded of similar folktales I have read, from other cultural traditions, and featuring other animals. The Latvian story of The Palace of the Cats, for instance, which is retold in Eric A. Kimmel's The Castle of the Cats , has a very similar story involving three brothers, the youngest of whom returns with a feline bride. Even the challenge involving the piece of needlework/weaving is similar, in the two stories! I enjoy finding these parallels between different folk traditions, and think tale types involving an enchanted bride or bridegroom - Beauty and the Beast is probably the most famous example - are fascinating. All that said, this was enjoyable in its own right, and is one I would recommend to all young folk and fairy-tale lovers, particularly those who enjoy a romantic ending.
March 9, 2016
I loved seeing Shepard's attention to the extant tellings of this story in his end matter, especially his note that Salmelainen's collection from the 1850s is still not translated into English (and this story is not there in the 1887 German translation). There's a fine digital copy on Hathitrust from U of Wisconsin, where I got to see the arts & crafts style illustrations of a 1920s reprint (it's under Hiiri Morsiamena, on page 256)--much in the style of Walter Crane. And because Arne Antii was from Finland, this story made it into his earliest tale type index--it's now in Stith Thompson's index under B601.3.1 Marriage to mouse, sourced to Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges, a connection out into the world through Greek folklore.
I do enjoy seeing fairy tales and folktales make it into print from outside the canon. The fractured fairy tale tradition now so popular, rarely shows any evidence of knowledge or interest in lesser known stories, or in motifs as broad semantic units of meaning (motifs are like broad swatches of language stitched by story grammar into tales).
Shepard's retelling engaged me with the song of the mouse as a returning chorus--he wrote a tune and put it at the end of the book! He emphasizes the difficulty Mikko would have explaining a mouse bride to people without over-psychologizing characters who should be flat. I'm sure the earlier folklore versions of the story were not as forgiving of Mikko's unnamed brother, who kicks the mouse into the river. In older tales, this is a brother begging for a comeuppance. Shepard's telling may have been overly influenced by already-doctored-up storybook versions he used as sources, but I was left wanting an element of conflict and danger that this telling defused too quickly.
Leonid Gore's two-dimensional, folk-art style is a perfect complement, offering a dreamy tone emphasizing cool colors. He departs from the style just enough to offer dynamic scenes with a little bit of 3D depth. His pastel work over acrylics was interesting to look at more closely, where I can see that he has scratched some of the pastel away to use the underpainting for line details. Most of the time I would say the pictures and words are in a corresponding relationship here, which is common for longer folk tales and fairy tales in a picturebook--they tend to move toward the illustrated book tradition rather than the picturebook tradition. But there's a great moment at the end where the princess is wearing a dress that looks to be made out of the linen the mouse made early in the story--and the words didn't say this--pictures and words thrown into complementary relationship!
I do enjoy seeing fairy tales and folktales make it into print from outside the canon. The fractured fairy tale tradition now so popular, rarely shows any evidence of knowledge or interest in lesser known stories, or in motifs as broad semantic units of meaning (motifs are like broad swatches of language stitched by story grammar into tales).
Shepard's retelling engaged me with the song of the mouse as a returning chorus--he wrote a tune and put it at the end of the book! He emphasizes the difficulty Mikko would have explaining a mouse bride to people without over-psychologizing characters who should be flat. I'm sure the earlier folklore versions of the story were not as forgiving of Mikko's unnamed brother, who kicks the mouse into the river. In older tales, this is a brother begging for a comeuppance. Shepard's telling may have been overly influenced by already-doctored-up storybook versions he used as sources, but I was left wanting an element of conflict and danger that this telling defused too quickly.
Leonid Gore's two-dimensional, folk-art style is a perfect complement, offering a dreamy tone emphasizing cool colors. He departs from the style just enough to offer dynamic scenes with a little bit of 3D depth. His pastel work over acrylics was interesting to look at more closely, where I can see that he has scratched some of the pastel away to use the underpainting for line details. Most of the time I would say the pictures and words are in a corresponding relationship here, which is common for longer folk tales and fairy tales in a picturebook--they tend to move toward the illustrated book tradition rather than the picturebook tradition. But there's a great moment at the end where the princess is wearing a dress that looks to be made out of the linen the mouse made early in the story--and the words didn't say this--pictures and words thrown into complementary relationship!
December 3, 2025
After reading The Princess Mouse, I felt the strong cultural implications of an old Finnish folktale in full capacity, along with the surprises and lessons included along the way. In this book, the author retells a Finnish folktale concerning two brothers, Mikko and Olavi, who will journey to find their life partners according to an old village tradition. Their father instructs them to cut down trees and follow whichever way they may fall, and that will lead them in the direction of their future spouses. Oddly, Mikko’s tree leads him to the woods, where he finds a talking mouse, the “Princess Mouse”. I really enjoyed how the bold silliness of the story relayed morals of kindness through the magic of the folktale.
The major themes in the book were humility and remaining non-judgmental. Olavi shows a great deal of humility to his brother when he doesn't boast about his path and simply respects the tradition. Mikko becomes extremely open-minded and avoids judging a book by its cover in regards to the princess mouse, even though she may come across as small and irrelevant to his situation at first. These themes both caught my eye because they highlight the notion that worth comes from within as opposed to how individuals may appear on the outside. The main genre of this book is traditional literature, because it is retelling an old folktale that has been passed down through Finnish culture over the years.
Children reading this book could learn that people are always worth more than we can see with our own eyes, and true beauty rests inside. They could also learn that no matter how different others may look, it is an incontestable truth that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. This book was a WOW book for me because it transformed the simple folktale of chopping down a tree to see your future into a charming story full of applicable lessons for the youth to use in their life in order to become better people. I loved how the tale used playfulness to teach deeper lessons while maintaining the underlying tone of tradition that has made the story great for generations.
The author used multiple writing craft techniques in this book. First, the author used the writing craft technique of repetition. An example of this writing craft from the book is when the original activity of chopping down a tree and following the direction it falls is referenced and repeated throughout the story. This writing craft technique enhanced the quality of the book by reinforcing the initial aspect of the folktale, leading the reader on an authentic, fun story while paying homage to the traditional element of the tale. Second, the author used the writing craft technique of dialogue. An example of this writing craft from the book is when Mikko converses pleasantly with the mouse and openly listens to her words. This writing craft technique enhanced the quality of the book by highlighting the personalities of the characters in their exchanges. This gave the magical parts of the book a side of realism, as the conversations had typical aspects like these. I would consider this book to be an anti-bias book because it relays a message of inclusion to the readers. The tale promotes open-mindedness and values kindness towards all, no matter their physical appearance or differences from ourselves.
December 31, 2021
The Princess Mouse is a fairy tale from Finland. It is a story about two brothers that are farmers. When they come of age, their father tells them that they must cut trees down and whichever direction the trees fall in is the direction they must travel in to find their sweetheart. The older brother already has a sweetheart and purposely cuts his tree to fall in her direction. However, the younger brother, Mikko doesn't have a sweetheart so he tries to chop his tree towards town. Instead, the tree falls in the other direction towards nothing but woods. Mikko ventures out into the woods and finds an empty cabin with nothing but a talking mouse who eventually becomes his sweetheart, and in true fairy tale fashion ends up being a princess.
I thought the story was very sweet, but a bit weird at times as most fairy tales are I guess haha.
I thought the story was very sweet, but a bit weird at times as most fairy tales are I guess haha.
September 27, 2022
We read this to go along with learning about the countries of Scandinavia. It was fun to read a fairytale that had elements we recognized from other stories, like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. There is some humor here, too, which added to the experience for us. We were excited to find a note at the end of the book pointing us to the author's website, where he has extras like the melody for the song that the princess mouse sings several times throughout the story (wish I'd found that first instead of making up my own tune), and even a reader's theater script if a few friends or a class want to act out the story. It looks like he has several more tales with an international flair, so we will be looking for those as we continue to study different countries throughout the year.
October 7, 2024
In Mikko's family, young men find their sweethearts by cutting down a tree and following where it points. As his father says, "That's how we've done it, and that's how we always will." Mikko, the youngest brother, ventures out to find his sweetheart and stumbles upon a cottage in the forest. In the cottage, Mikko finds a mouse who offers to be his sweetheart. I would have this book in my classroom library so students can experience different types of folktales.
October 2, 2025
This was not one of my favorite books. It is a story about two sons in Finland who are ready to get married and have to go on a mission to find their wives. I don't think there would be a need to have this book in my future classroom. There are a lot of words on every page, and the storyline wouldn't be relevant to any content I can think of. I did like the illustrations of this book a lot, I think the illustrator did a great job!
February 1, 2022
He wanted to find someone to marry. I liked that he found someone even though his tree pointed to the forest.
May 22, 2023
Enjoyable fairytale. I am a sucker for the breaking of a spell or curse and any story involving a princess.
Read
March 2, 2016Title: The Princess Mouse: A Tale of Finland
Author: Aaron Shepard
Illustrator: Leonid Gore
Genre: European folktale
Theme(s): Tradition, Marriage, Love
Opening line/sentence: Once there was a farmer with two sons.
Brief Book Summary: This is a story of two brothers who must find brides to marry. The brothers each find brides, but one brother finds a mouse as a bride. He falls in love with her as a mouse. On the day of the wedding, the other brother tries to kill her and the curse is broken. She turns into a beautiful princess and they live happily ever after.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Shelle Rosenfeld Review: Illustrator: Leonid Gore Shepard, Aaron. The Princess Mouse: A Tale of Finland. Illus. by Leonid Gore. Feb. 2003. 32p. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, $16.95 (0-689-82912-4). 398.2. K–Gr. 3. Mikko and his brother are now old enough to marry. Following family marriage tradition, each cuts down a tree and follows the direction it points—in Mikko’s case, to the forest. To his surprise, there’s a house. More surprising is its inhabitant—a mouse whose kindness wins his heart. Alas, the family can’t see beyond her fur, and Mikko’s disdaining brother kicks his beloved mouse into the stream. When an enchanted princess emerges, true love triumphs. Shepard’s charmingly droll version of a Finnish folktale combines classic elements with unexpected, witty details—among them, an outspoken mouse who sings a little song in the story (lyrics and melody appended). The jewel-toned art has beautiful luminescence; the elongated, somewhat blocky look of the characters reinforces the fantasy; and the mice are downright irresistible. An endnote identifies story sources and a Web site for a readers’ theater script of the tale. Quirky, enjoyable, and easily adapted for storytime.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Del Negro Review: Two brothers seek sweethearts to take to wife, following a family tradition that dictates that the brothers find their brides by chopping down a tree and then traveling in the direction the tree falls. The eldest brother causes his tree to point in the direction of his already-identified sweetie; the younger brother, Mikko, winds up walking into the woods. There Mikko finds a bride, a sweet gray mouse with a velvety coat, and despite their obvious differences, the two swear to be true to each another. On Mikko and the mouse bride's wedding day, Mikko's older brother reacts to his future sister-in-law with scorn, kicking the small carriage that carries her into the river. To the surprise of all, the dunking breaks an enchantment, and from the water comes not a mouse but a lovely princess. Shepard, reteller of traditional tales such as Master Man (BCCB 2/01), curtails the traditional use of threes in European folktales, limiting this tale to two brothers and one bride test, thus leaving room for a bit more description. Although there is little tension in the plot, the marital preparations of characters human and rodent are appealingly handled, and the tone of the text itself is successfully humorous. Gore's acrylic and pastel illustrations here have a lighter touch than some of his previous work. The contrast between light and dark gives the images a stage-lit quality that adds drama and intensity, while the palette (summery greens, blues, and yellows) maintains the lighthearted quality of this cozy adaptation.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Unfortunately, I was unable to look at the actual book, but I read the story version online, so I can’t comment on the illustrations. This story is incredibly sweet and quirky, like the reviews suggest. The story has very similar adaptations that are popular, but I really enjoyed reading this version.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: There is some dramatic irony that plays into the story because the audience knows the brother has fallen in love with a mouse, but the other brother and father do not know this. It adds humor when they find out the bride is a mouse, and thus creates more drama when she turns into a beautiful princess.
Consideration of Instructional Application: There is a song that the mouse sings to the brother, so it would be fun to do a music lesson and teach the song to the class. Another thing that could be done is a unit on traditions. The family in the book has a traditional way of how they choose their brides, so we could talk about our own family traditions and why people have different traditions.
Author: Aaron Shepard
Illustrator: Leonid Gore
Genre: European folktale
Theme(s): Tradition, Marriage, Love
Opening line/sentence: Once there was a farmer with two sons.
Brief Book Summary: This is a story of two brothers who must find brides to marry. The brothers each find brides, but one brother finds a mouse as a bride. He falls in love with her as a mouse. On the day of the wedding, the other brother tries to kill her and the curse is broken. She turns into a beautiful princess and they live happily ever after.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Shelle Rosenfeld Review: Illustrator: Leonid Gore Shepard, Aaron. The Princess Mouse: A Tale of Finland. Illus. by Leonid Gore. Feb. 2003. 32p. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, $16.95 (0-689-82912-4). 398.2. K–Gr. 3. Mikko and his brother are now old enough to marry. Following family marriage tradition, each cuts down a tree and follows the direction it points—in Mikko’s case, to the forest. To his surprise, there’s a house. More surprising is its inhabitant—a mouse whose kindness wins his heart. Alas, the family can’t see beyond her fur, and Mikko’s disdaining brother kicks his beloved mouse into the stream. When an enchanted princess emerges, true love triumphs. Shepard’s charmingly droll version of a Finnish folktale combines classic elements with unexpected, witty details—among them, an outspoken mouse who sings a little song in the story (lyrics and melody appended). The jewel-toned art has beautiful luminescence; the elongated, somewhat blocky look of the characters reinforces the fantasy; and the mice are downright irresistible. An endnote identifies story sources and a Web site for a readers’ theater script of the tale. Quirky, enjoyable, and easily adapted for storytime.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Del Negro Review: Two brothers seek sweethearts to take to wife, following a family tradition that dictates that the brothers find their brides by chopping down a tree and then traveling in the direction the tree falls. The eldest brother causes his tree to point in the direction of his already-identified sweetie; the younger brother, Mikko, winds up walking into the woods. There Mikko finds a bride, a sweet gray mouse with a velvety coat, and despite their obvious differences, the two swear to be true to each another. On Mikko and the mouse bride's wedding day, Mikko's older brother reacts to his future sister-in-law with scorn, kicking the small carriage that carries her into the river. To the surprise of all, the dunking breaks an enchantment, and from the water comes not a mouse but a lovely princess. Shepard, reteller of traditional tales such as Master Man (BCCB 2/01), curtails the traditional use of threes in European folktales, limiting this tale to two brothers and one bride test, thus leaving room for a bit more description. Although there is little tension in the plot, the marital preparations of characters human and rodent are appealingly handled, and the tone of the text itself is successfully humorous. Gore's acrylic and pastel illustrations here have a lighter touch than some of his previous work. The contrast between light and dark gives the images a stage-lit quality that adds drama and intensity, while the palette (summery greens, blues, and yellows) maintains the lighthearted quality of this cozy adaptation.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Unfortunately, I was unable to look at the actual book, but I read the story version online, so I can’t comment on the illustrations. This story is incredibly sweet and quirky, like the reviews suggest. The story has very similar adaptations that are popular, but I really enjoyed reading this version.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: There is some dramatic irony that plays into the story because the audience knows the brother has fallen in love with a mouse, but the other brother and father do not know this. It adds humor when they find out the bride is a mouse, and thus creates more drama when she turns into a beautiful princess.
Consideration of Instructional Application: There is a song that the mouse sings to the brother, so it would be fun to do a music lesson and teach the song to the class. Another thing that could be done is a unit on traditions. The family in the book has a traditional way of how they choose their brides, so we could talk about our own family traditions and why people have different traditions.
March 9, 2015
Personal thoughts:
I enjoyed reading this Finnish fairy tale. It is definitely a variant of the common fairytale of Cinderella. The story begins with two brothers who have become of age and are ready to seek out their wife. The tradition of the family is to chop down a tree and follow the direction the tree is pointing in search of a "sweetheart." The older brother already had a sweetheart and cut down his tree so that it would fall in the direction in which she lived. The younger brother chopped down his tree and it pointed towards the forrest. Of course the older brother teased him about it doubting his chances of finding a sweetheart in the forest. The brothers are both tested by their father to prove their sweethearts worthiness of being married. They make a total of 3 trips to their sweetheart (1-to find her, 2- have her weave some cloth, 3-bring her home to be married).
Classroom use: (Grades 2-3)
-read aloud picture book
-fairy tale unit intro
- story creating
-Social Studies unit on Europe
I enjoyed reading this Finnish fairy tale. It is definitely a variant of the common fairytale of Cinderella. The story begins with two brothers who have become of age and are ready to seek out their wife. The tradition of the family is to chop down a tree and follow the direction the tree is pointing in search of a "sweetheart." The older brother already had a sweetheart and cut down his tree so that it would fall in the direction in which she lived. The younger brother chopped down his tree and it pointed towards the forrest. Of course the older brother teased him about it doubting his chances of finding a sweetheart in the forest. The brothers are both tested by their father to prove their sweethearts worthiness of being married. They make a total of 3 trips to their sweetheart (1-to find her, 2- have her weave some cloth, 3-bring her home to be married).
Classroom use: (Grades 2-3)
-read aloud picture book
-fairy tale unit intro
- story creating
-Social Studies unit on Europe
Read
March 17, 2010Mikko goes to find his sweetheart after his marriage tree falls and he unexpectedly find a mouse, but sees that there is more than meets the eye with this little mouse.
One thing that really interested me throughout the book is the different traditions that come up. The first and most important tradition that comes up is cutting down the tree in search of a wife. Not many children get that in some parts of the world there isn’t much a choice in who you marry, so it would be a learning segment. Another tradition that comes up is that the future bride must weave cloth that the father approves of. Most people do something similar and find ways to impress the future in-laws, so this one might not be such a shock, but it is still a tradition that would be work pointing out and talking about.
One thing that really interested me throughout the book is the different traditions that come up. The first and most important tradition that comes up is cutting down the tree in search of a wife. Not many children get that in some parts of the world there isn’t much a choice in who you marry, so it would be a learning segment. Another tradition that comes up is that the future bride must weave cloth that the father approves of. Most people do something similar and find ways to impress the future in-laws, so this one might not be such a shock, but it is still a tradition that would be work pointing out and talking about.
October 15, 2013
This is an entertaining tale from Finland. The story is fun to read aloud and the illustrations are colorful and complement the story nicely. It has a classic fairy tale feel to it and the ending is sweet.
We noticed that the author advertised his website (www.aaronshep.com) at the end of the story, so we checked it out. There's a lot of stories and other materials, such as reader's theater scripts.
We found the section for this book and read the additional part of the middle of the story that was cut from the picture book. We also listened to the music score that goes with the song in the story. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
We noticed that the author advertised his website (www.aaronshep.com) at the end of the story, so we checked it out. There's a lot of stories and other materials, such as reader's theater scripts.
We found the section for this book and read the additional part of the middle of the story that was cut from the picture book. We also listened to the music score that goes with the song in the story. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
September 15, 2015
I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It was a fairy tale book with a twist. It followed the general theme of most fairy tales, but did an amazing job of changing things up! This book was fun to read, because I did not know what was going to happen. This is also the first fairy tale I have read where the prince falls in love with an animal. The twist at the end of the story is the best part. It catches the reader off guard and makes this fairy tale fun to read!
December 15, 2009
The mouse was really a princess.
December 28, 2014
A solid picture book version of one of my favorite Finnish fairy tales. Recommended for ages 5-8.
May 17, 2024
A fun children's book that we turned into a play for grandma / grandpa camp, complete with music, using http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE31.html
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