Cooper's Tale

by Ralph da Costa Nunez

Cooper, a friendly pink mouse, becomes homeless when two fat cats and a lady in a red hat take over the cheese shop where Cooper works and lives. He is confused and sad as he looks for a place to go, until he runs into three children who, like Cooper, are homeless. The friendship that forms between them changes all of their lives in ways they never expected.

Cooper's Tale is a thought provoking children's book that explores the challenges that homeless children face and provides hope for a better future.

39 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Ralph da Costa Nunez has worked with homeless families for over 25 years, starting in the office of then-New York City mayor Ed Koch in the early 1980s, and this career-long experience has shaped his ideas and approach to public policy and service provision for this vulnerable population. Recognized as one of the foremost scholars in the field of child and family homelessness, Dr. Nunez has led the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelesness in producing provocative, evidence-based research designed to influence public policy, and he shares the results of that work with research colleagues, service providers, and policy makers across the country. In 2004, Dr. Nunez drew on his experience in city and state government to write his well-received history of family homelessness in New York City, “A Shelter Is Not a Home … Or Is It?” updated in January 2010 with the release of “A Shelter Is Not a Home … Or Is It? Revisited.” Dr. Nunez holds a PhD in political science from Columbia University, where he is also a professor at the School of International and Public Affairs.