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Norman the Doorman
From the author of perennial favorite Corduroy comes a charming tale of a marvelously talented mouse
"Norman is a doorman. He is also a mouse. Most important of all, he is a sculptor, particularly gifted in his manipulation of mousetraps into mobiles. This story, set in a museum, boasts illustrations of rare charm and quality. And the world of art lovers, exhibit openings, and mousedom, portrayed in Don Freeman’s delicious pastels, will enchant children and delight the most sophisticated of parents.”— Kirkus Reviews
"Norman is a doorman. He is also a mouse. Most important of all, he is a sculptor, particularly gifted in his manipulation of mousetraps into mobiles. This story, set in a museum, boasts illustrations of rare charm and quality. And the world of art lovers, exhibit openings, and mousedom, portrayed in Don Freeman’s delicious pastels, will enchant children and delight the most sophisticated of parents.”— Kirkus Reviews
64 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 1959
About the author
Don Freeman
313 books229 followersDon Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator. He was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, and later moved to New York City where he studied etching with John Sloan.
Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman.
Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
December 20, 2011
Why mice?
Why has so much children's literature been about mice? Why Mickey and Jerry and Fievel and their animated brethren? How in the world did such vermin ridden filth become cute?
It's not like they are endangered and we need to generate our usual, oops-too-late-false-sense-of-urgency. It's not like Coca Cola is going to be pony-ing up their tax write off money to "Save the Mouse." It's not like they mice make good pets: they can't fetch your slippers or roll over; they don't have a charmingly arrogant aloofness; they are skitterish and too fast and bite without provocation. Moreover, it's not like mice help us humans out like the over-villified spider or the creppy crawly lizards and snakes that control our rodent population. I suppose they are good in labs, though, as subjects to inject cancer into.
Mice do bring us plenty of fun diseases: bubonic plague, salmonella, typhus, leptospirosis, tapeworms, rat bite fever, hantavirus, and lyme disease. So I suppose they are good for something.
Can we all just agree that mice are nasty little beasts? Cause if we can, I think it is time to go back to my question: why mice?
I don't want to read about little heroic mice who somehow defeat their nasty predators. I want those noble predators to eat the mice, or kill them with their broomstick, or poison them in the night, or scare them witless in the deep prairie grass. I want mice to become the villains of a piece, not the poor, misunderstood, protagonists that we should just leave in peace.
And I don't want any more mice -- like that Norman the Doorman -- spreading their poop and mouse dander all over the artwork my super rich friends have gone to great lengths to collect and preserve in the local museum. Get out of the suit of armour, Norman. Stop giving museum tours to your dirty little, Victorian accoutred friends. Stop pretending that paintings of Swiss cheese are a valid form of artistic expression, even ironically (was Andy Warhol a mouse? Hmmm.) Stop dazzling pretentious art critics with your mouse trap sculptures. Just stop trying to be human, for the love of Zeus. Be a mouse and die in the mouth of a cat already.
Okay, enough. Can we just have a moratorium on Mouse lit and move on to some other beast. Some beast that is actually misunderstood. Like the glorious Sloth -- the perfect metaphor for the computer generation. Or how about the Armadillo? Is there a cooler looking beast that it? No more mice, I say!
And don't even get me started on rats.
Why has so much children's literature been about mice? Why Mickey and Jerry and Fievel and their animated brethren? How in the world did such vermin ridden filth become cute?
It's not like they are endangered and we need to generate our usual, oops-too-late-false-sense-of-urgency. It's not like Coca Cola is going to be pony-ing up their tax write off money to "Save the Mouse." It's not like they mice make good pets: they can't fetch your slippers or roll over; they don't have a charmingly arrogant aloofness; they are skitterish and too fast and bite without provocation. Moreover, it's not like mice help us humans out like the over-villified spider or the creppy crawly lizards and snakes that control our rodent population. I suppose they are good in labs, though, as subjects to inject cancer into.
Mice do bring us plenty of fun diseases: bubonic plague, salmonella, typhus, leptospirosis, tapeworms, rat bite fever, hantavirus, and lyme disease. So I suppose they are good for something.
Can we all just agree that mice are nasty little beasts? Cause if we can, I think it is time to go back to my question: why mice?
I don't want to read about little heroic mice who somehow defeat their nasty predators. I want those noble predators to eat the mice, or kill them with their broomstick, or poison them in the night, or scare them witless in the deep prairie grass. I want mice to become the villains of a piece, not the poor, misunderstood, protagonists that we should just leave in peace.
And I don't want any more mice -- like that Norman the Doorman -- spreading their poop and mouse dander all over the artwork my super rich friends have gone to great lengths to collect and preserve in the local museum. Get out of the suit of armour, Norman. Stop giving museum tours to your dirty little, Victorian accoutred friends. Stop pretending that paintings of Swiss cheese are a valid form of artistic expression, even ironically (was Andy Warhol a mouse? Hmmm.) Stop dazzling pretentious art critics with your mouse trap sculptures. Just stop trying to be human, for the love of Zeus. Be a mouse and die in the mouth of a cat already.
Okay, enough. Can we just have a moratorium on Mouse lit and move on to some other beast. Some beast that is actually misunderstood. Like the glorious Sloth -- the perfect metaphor for the computer generation. Or how about the Armadillo? Is there a cooler looking beast that it? No more mice, I say!
And don't even get me started on rats.
April 14, 2022
Don Freeman was more prolific than you might know.
May 18, 2019
Summary: Norman is a mouse who is a doorman at the mouse-sized side entrance to the Majestic Museum of Art. He lives in the visor of an old suit of armor. By day he sports a blue doorman uniform and hosts visitors to the museum’s basement cache of art. By night he spends time on his hobby—making art. He decides to enter one of his mousetrap sculptures in the contest upstairs at the museum but will he make it or will he meet up with his nemesis the sharp-eyed upstairs guard? Norman the Doorman is a rich, suspenseful, and satisfying story.
How I love this story! Norman is small in stature, but great in heart and courage! The illustrations are detailed and create an invitation to enter Norman's world and story. Perhaps, if we're lucky, they may inspire an interest in visiting an art museum.
Don Freeman creates a richly nuanced story through his color pencil illustrations as well as a delightfully unforgettable character in Norman. Norman is characterized well—he has a day job, a hobby, a home, and he even mends his own uniform. He also has a nemesis in the upstairs guard who sets mousetraps in the basement and checks them periodically only to find the cheese gone and the trap sprung. The unique setting in a metropolitan art museum, Norman's uniform, his home, his hobby, and the suspense of the night guard together create a dramatic story with a satisfying end.
How I love this story! Norman is small in stature, but great in heart and courage! The illustrations are detailed and create an invitation to enter Norman's world and story. Perhaps, if we're lucky, they may inspire an interest in visiting an art museum.
Don Freeman creates a richly nuanced story through his color pencil illustrations as well as a delightfully unforgettable character in Norman. Norman is characterized well—he has a day job, a hobby, a home, and he even mends his own uniform. He also has a nemesis in the upstairs guard who sets mousetraps in the basement and checks them periodically only to find the cheese gone and the trap sprung. The unique setting in a metropolitan art museum, Norman's uniform, his home, his hobby, and the suspense of the night guard together create a dramatic story with a satisfying end.
April 14, 2018
Norman is the doorman at the well-hidden hole around in the back of the Majestic Museum of Art. He greets all the creatures who come to see the treasures kept in the basement of the museum. He springs all the traps and explains the paintings and sculptures to the guests.
When he’s not busy guiding guests through the museum basement, Norman creates his own art in his home inside the visor of the knight’s armored helmet and keeps himself hidden from the upstairs guard who comes to the basement to set mouse traps.
One day, Norman learns of a contest for sculptors big and small and thinks about entering his tiny sculpture in the contest. Can Norman find a way to enter the contest without revealing himself to the upstairs guard? And if Norman’s sculpture wins the contest, will he get his secret wish?
Delightful pastels illustrate this enchanting tale of a mouse who is true to himself. Readers young and old will find much to appreciate in this charming tale from the author of “Corduroy.”
Highly recommended.
When he’s not busy guiding guests through the museum basement, Norman creates his own art in his home inside the visor of the knight’s armored helmet and keeps himself hidden from the upstairs guard who comes to the basement to set mouse traps.
One day, Norman learns of a contest for sculptors big and small and thinks about entering his tiny sculpture in the contest. Can Norman find a way to enter the contest without revealing himself to the upstairs guard? And if Norman’s sculpture wins the contest, will he get his secret wish?
Delightful pastels illustrate this enchanting tale of a mouse who is true to himself. Readers young and old will find much to appreciate in this charming tale from the author of “Corduroy.”
Highly recommended.
February 1, 2018
This is a wonderfully charming children's classic!
Not only is Norman the sweetest little mouse that you'd truly feel privileged to know, but he also possesses quite the creative wit! It sure put a smirk on my face to see what he entered into the art competition.
Ages 2+
Cleanliness: in the background of one of the pictures there is a Buddha statue (image cut off so half visible) and next to it a statue of a nude man (the object in his hand is covering, so no details visible).
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
Not only is Norman the sweetest little mouse that you'd truly feel privileged to know, but he also possesses quite the creative wit! It sure put a smirk on my face to see what he entered into the art competition.
Ages 2+
Cleanliness: in the background of one of the pictures there is a Buddha statue (image cut off so half visible) and next to it a statue of a nude man (the object in his hand is covering, so no details visible).
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
March 14, 2013
The kids really enjoyed this book! It's an older story (we read the 1959 printing), and at 64 pages it's also a longer picture book. I was a little concerned that the kids might find the story to be too long and too dated, but that wasn't the case at all. They both really enjoyed it!
I was thrilled with the illustrations. They were beautiful colored pencil drawings, and the way that the colors were blended to create texture, depth, and interest was really pleasing to look at. It's easy to see why my friend Pam loves this book!
I was thrilled with the illustrations. They were beautiful colored pencil drawings, and the way that the colors were blended to create texture, depth, and interest was really pleasing to look at. It's easy to see why my friend Pam loves this book!
January 27, 2015
(64 pages)
I recently came across this book at Goodwill and decided to purchase it. I had no idea how old of a story it was, written back in 1959! However, even today, I think this is an excellent story that kids would enjoy. The illustrations in this story were also outstanding! I felt as though I actually was the little mouse in the story just by looking at the pictures. Even though this is an excellent story, I do not believe it would be good to use as a classroom read aloud because it is such as long story. However, just having a student read it by themselves or even a parent reading to a child would work great.
I recently came across this book at Goodwill and decided to purchase it. I had no idea how old of a story it was, written back in 1959! However, even today, I think this is an excellent story that kids would enjoy. The illustrations in this story were also outstanding! I felt as though I actually was the little mouse in the story just by looking at the pictures. Even though this is an excellent story, I do not believe it would be good to use as a classroom read aloud because it is such as long story. However, just having a student read it by themselves or even a parent reading to a child would work great.
February 14, 2016
Norman in a little mouse-doorman to a "door" on the side of museum that allows little creatures to come in and see all the works of art in the storage room. He is always trying to outwit the sharp-eyed guard who lays traps for the little mouse all the time. Inspired by the great art all around him (Normal also lives in the museum), he creates his own sculpture and enters it into a competition the museum is sponsoring. Of course he wins and everyone is all in a hubbub over who this new artist could be.
Lovely illustrations.
Lovely illustrations.
July 19, 2021
Now that I am working in a library that is nearing 100 years old, I am having fun revisiting authors/illustrators I remember as a child...Don Freeman being one of them. This is the first time I have read this one. Such an endearing story of a mouse who loves art and sharing it with others. It will be pretty difficult to buy a mouse trap after reading this story. There is just no one who illustrates like Don Freeman did!
November 20, 2014
This book is a gem. The written story itself is engaging, and the fascinating illustrations add much more to it. It's children's book that adults will relish as well. (Aletheia's review: The page paper was excellent for scratching one's nails against, and the corners looked delicious although I never quite got a taste.)
July 30, 2016
We have begun to enjoy the longer picture books. My girls enjoy story and considering they are still children, they love illustrations too. Norman the Doorman is a lovely story about a mouse who appreciates his home.
August 18, 2020
The illustrations were nice and attractive
and appropriate.
Considering this picture book was written
in 1959, the plot was somewhat original.
I thought it was a good picture book, not
absolutely great.
Children in general would probably enjoy
it.
and appropriate.
Considering this picture book was written
in 1959, the plot was somewhat original.
I thought it was a good picture book, not
absolutely great.
Children in general would probably enjoy
it.
January 28, 2009
Great children's book - one of my favorites. I love this author and how he draws and acquaints children with otherwise intimidating facilities - like the Met, the Museum of Fine Arts...
July 8, 2010
Beautiful colored pencil drawings and a charming story. My children love it as much as I did as a child.
June 19, 2012
This one is adorable!
September 30, 2016
Great illustrations!!
January 22, 2019
An adorable, poignant, and beautiful children's book.
April 9, 2020
Cuter than Corduroy, to be perfectly honest. I can't believe that I didn't know about this one as a kid!
September 17, 2020
This book was amazing. I had beautiful art a great story that involved and an museum and me smile all the way through. I can’t wait to get my own copy.
December 26, 2021
Such a cute picture books that the kids loved. I highly recommend!
February 27, 2023
Norman loves to give tours of the treasures hidden away in the basement of the Majestic Museum of Art, but in his spare time he creates his own works of art. He's particularly proud of one of his recent sculptures, and decides to enter it in an art show. But, will his entry give away his secret location, and end up with Norman losing his home . . . or worse?
Don't worry - the ending is quite happy.
I'm in love with Freeman's amazing colored pencil artwork.
Don't worry - the ending is quite happy.
I'm in love with Freeman's amazing colored pencil artwork.
November 25, 2024
Norman is a mouse who lives at the art museum. He is proud of his role and conducts tours for other mice so they can appreciate the art too. He has to dodge the guards who set traps but is happy with his home. One day, he decides to create a sculpture out of the traps' wires. He enters a contest and wins a prize. The guard finds him and brings him to the ceremony. The end of the book shows how the staff accepts him and he is allowed to continue sharing the art.
May 21, 2025
I often don't like books that have a major element about entering a contest and winning something, but this one was well done!
*spoiler*
Norman didn't win the whole contest, but one in his artwork's class. His was clever and well made. Other sculptures were "better" but they won in their own classes.
Overall, a fun little story with nice illustrations! I may or may not own this book personally. But I will utilize my library's copy.
*spoiler*
Norman didn't win the whole contest, but one in his artwork's class. His was clever and well made. Other sculptures were "better" but they won in their own classes.
Overall, a fun little story with nice illustrations! I may or may not own this book personally. But I will utilize my library's copy.
December 13, 2021
Norman is mouse who works as a doorman at the rear of the Majestic Museum of Art. Norman gives tours to his friends of the art that's stored in the basement and staying one step ahead of the night watchman. Norman also has a hobby, and it is this hobby that allowed Norman to finally get his biggest wish.
December 7, 2023
I have to say this was my favorite Don Freeman book. Sorry Corduroy. It's about a mouse who lives at a museum and shows other mice around. One day there was a local art contest and Norman made something really big out of something small... Very clever and enjoyed the structure of the story. There was meat to it, which I think is lacking in picture books today. My rating - 5/5
Read
May 7, 2021A small mouse that was a doorman decided to enter a sculpter contest and this mouse won. He did not realy think that he would win because his sculpture was very tiny. But he did win. Small dreams can come true.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2023
This book has a great storyline that is interesting and easy to follow. This book would be great for young students. The illustrations are extremely pleasing to the eye, and the personification of the mice makes for a fun story.
June 1, 2023
From the author/illustrator of Corduroy, this is an adorable and amusing story of an artistic mouse who works as a doorman in the basement of a museum. We loved it!
Age rec: a bit long, so probably best for preschool and up
Age rec: a bit long, so probably best for preschool and up
April 17, 2026
In support of my dad who will be going on strike Tuesday for all doormen and essential staff, I am looking for children's books on doormen, and I found this super cute read :3 Maybe I will get him a copy when he retires in a couple of years hahaha
October 30, 2019
cw: mouse getting grabbed by giant human hand, threat/fear of incarceration
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews