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The Christmas Mouse
Ben doesn't care about Christmas and he shuns the present Tim offers him. But on Christmas Eve, Ben cannot sleep, and a stranger appears, who promises to help Ben. They set off on a night-time quest to teach Ben the value of friendship.
40 pages, Unknown Binding
First published September 19, 1996
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October 27, 2020
Sadly, this year Christmas looks like it could be a non-event so I thought I would get some early Christmas reading in. What I didn't realise was that 'The Christmas Mouse' is something of a parody of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' but with mice playing the respective parts!
Ben is a wealthy mouse who is not interested in Christmas, he enjoys saying, 'I don't set any score by Christmas. It's all the same to me, whatever day it is.' So when Tim, a poor little mouse, brings him a present on Christmas Eve, he is not interested in that either. But Ben does have with him a juicy candied plum that Tim admires. 'That looks a nice plum', says Tim to which Ben replies, 'Yes, it is. There's nothing better in the world than a candied plum.'
That night Ben cannot sleep and a stranger named Jake appears and after discussing the niceties of a candied plum, he takes Ben on a night-time quest to find three people who agree with Ben that a candied plum is the best thing in the world.
They encounter a party at which some poor mice in ragged clothes are having a good time and a festive group of mice in an inn who were also having a drink to celebrate Christmas. Jake suggests they drink a toast 'To Ben!' but the oldest mouse declined to drink to him saying, 'It would spoil Christmas.' And while they are at these locations Ben offers the candied plum to a mouse at each if they were to accompany him to eat it and they decline as they prefer to remain with their friends.
Then the pair enter a cold room, so cold in fact that Tim, who was in bed, had been overcome by it. Besides Tim's bed was a nicely wrapped present that had written on the label, 'To Ben, Merry Christmas from Tim.' So Ben, feeling awful, left the candied plum besides Tim's bed.
Jake, having seen three people that he felt proved a point, took Ben back to his home, put him to bed and pulled the covers up to Ben's chin so that he fell fast asleep.
The following morning, Ben, like Scrooge before him, had learnt the true meaning of Christmas and the value of friendship and he invites Tim to celebrate Christmas with him, saying, 'It's not too late, is it?' And Tim replies, 'Never too late.'
Ruth Brown's exquisite illustrations along with Toby Forward's poignant text make this a classic Christmas gift book.
Ben is a wealthy mouse who is not interested in Christmas, he enjoys saying, 'I don't set any score by Christmas. It's all the same to me, whatever day it is.' So when Tim, a poor little mouse, brings him a present on Christmas Eve, he is not interested in that either. But Ben does have with him a juicy candied plum that Tim admires. 'That looks a nice plum', says Tim to which Ben replies, 'Yes, it is. There's nothing better in the world than a candied plum.'
That night Ben cannot sleep and a stranger named Jake appears and after discussing the niceties of a candied plum, he takes Ben on a night-time quest to find three people who agree with Ben that a candied plum is the best thing in the world.
They encounter a party at which some poor mice in ragged clothes are having a good time and a festive group of mice in an inn who were also having a drink to celebrate Christmas. Jake suggests they drink a toast 'To Ben!' but the oldest mouse declined to drink to him saying, 'It would spoil Christmas.' And while they are at these locations Ben offers the candied plum to a mouse at each if they were to accompany him to eat it and they decline as they prefer to remain with their friends.
Then the pair enter a cold room, so cold in fact that Tim, who was in bed, had been overcome by it. Besides Tim's bed was a nicely wrapped present that had written on the label, 'To Ben, Merry Christmas from Tim.' So Ben, feeling awful, left the candied plum besides Tim's bed.
Jake, having seen three people that he felt proved a point, took Ben back to his home, put him to bed and pulled the covers up to Ben's chin so that he fell fast asleep.
The following morning, Ben, like Scrooge before him, had learnt the true meaning of Christmas and the value of friendship and he invites Tim to celebrate Christmas with him, saying, 'It's not too late, is it?' And Tim replies, 'Never too late.'
Ruth Brown's exquisite illustrations along with Toby Forward's poignant text make this a classic Christmas gift book.
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