Little Mouse on the Prairie

Serendipity

by Stephen Cosgrove, Robin James (Illustrator)

Tweezle the mouse never laughs or smiles-she's too busy working to prepare for winter while the other mice frolic and play. But Tweezle and her friends help one another-she shows them the value of hard work while they teach her that laughter can make work more fun!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Animals, Nature, Classics, Young Adult

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Ms. B]

Work hard, play hard is the message in this story that is an updated retelling of the classic The Ant and the Grasshopper fable.

[J]

The Serendipity version of Aesop's "The Grasshopper and the Ants" although they all belong to the same species. The story is short, simple and to the point. And in a sense I was able to relate to Tweezle who didn't know how to have fun.

The illustrations are some of the best in the series in my opinion....

[Amanda]

A cute book about kindness and not letting work consume you. At least that’s what I got out of it. I’m reading this to my littles co-op class, ages 4-7. I think they will enjoy it.

[Katie]

Beautiful illustrations. 😍

[Nina]

This was my favorite series of books when I was younger. I read them all over and over again. Tweezy Dee is a very industrious mouse who works so hard all summer to collect food for winter, build her house, etc. But she never stops to have any fun. The other field mice on the other hand play all summer and dont get supplies for winter, they play tricks on Tweezle Dee. When winter comes they are freezing and hungry so they go to Tweezle Dee. At first she doesn't want to help them. After awhile she decides to trade them food and shelter for the winter for them to teach her to have fun! :0)

[Kest Schwartzman]

I would pay good money for a little mouse on the prairie/game of thrones mash-up.

Tweezle- WINTER IS COMING. I need to build this wall!

no one does. The world ends in screaming.

[Rose | Belletrist Anarchist]

Robin James may be my favorite illustrator of all time.

[Lisa]

Little Mouse on the Prairie by Stephen Cosgrove.

This book is part of The Serendipity series of books by Stephen Cosgrove.

Tweezle is an industrious meadow mouse working hard all summer preparing for winter. She works alone all day, every day, never taking time to relax or play. The other meadow mice are quite the opposite. They play all day, every day, never taking time to work or prepare for the upcoming winter.

Once winter appears the meadow mice realize their mistake and go to Tweezle for help. Tweezle realizes that although she is prepared for winter she is all alone in her house and she is lonely. So she decides to let the other mice stay with her in exchange for them teaching her how to play and relax. This is a cute retelling of the Ant and the Grasshopper fable.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the lovely illustrations by Robin James.

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 stars. And even better than giving it to a child to read; read it with them, aloud. After all it's never too early to help a child discover the love of reading and the power of a good story.

My Rating System:
* not worth finishing, ** would not recommend, *** would recommend, **** would highly recommend, ***** have/would read again.

[Rena Sherwood]

Although this book has the best title in the series, it's a tiresome re-working of Aesop's grasshopper and ant story. It was interesting to see that the catchphrase "Winter is coming" appeared here long before George R. R. Martin penned it.

There is also a disconnect between Cosgrove's text and Robin James' lovely, if overly cute, illustrations. When Cosgrove writes that Our Protagonist never smiled, James clearly shows her smiling as she gathers berries.

There's also apparently only four mice in the prarie, with Our Protagonist being the oldest. What happened to all of the other mice? And why are there no baby mice? Is this a cannibalistic species? Did older generations of mice die off every winter? Did the species become sterile through overexposure to dew drops and daydreams?

My head hurts now.

[寿理 宮本]

This has to be my favourite art of all time! The characters are SO CUTE (even if there's not really a way to tell the mice apart other than assuming which one Tweezle Dee is based on context), and I just keep staring at the illustrations rather than reading the story!

The story is essentially the fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper, with mice, but in the end, "Tweeze" finds herself very lonely and finds the other mice, offering to shelter them in exchange for learning how to have fun.

Recommended for kids of any age (including *rather* old kids)! I have yet to find a cuter book than this one! :D

[Jon]

I grew up on the Serendipity books, and loved them. This isn't one of the ones I clearly remember from childhood, but that didn't stop me from being super excited to find it at the bookstore and share it with Rowan. He had a great time. James's illustrations are fantastic in their engaging focus, texture, and line. And Cosgrove's retelling of Aesop's fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper" is equally excellent. There are clear stakes and consequences, there's character nuance, and lessons beyond hard work and fun are mutually learned. It's really quite extraordinary.

[Carol]

1983 - Trade - Robin James - second hand

[Robert Drake]

This book 📙 teaches a great lesson.

[Shelly]

Twizzle Dee is always busy gathering food and supplies for the upcoming winter. The other mice laugh at her until winter comes and they are not prepared.

[Shayla]

This book is about a mouse who works hard, and never smiles, to get prepared for the winter season. And the other mice in the meadow play tricks on her and try to tell her not to be so uptight. When the winter comes all the mice in the meadow are not prepared for the winter on the mouse that has worked so hard is prepared. So the frozen mice ask the hard working mouse if they can stay with her, and she says that if they can teach her how to smile and have fun, she will teach them how to stay warm, and prepare for the next winter.
I like this book because there is text on one side of the page, and there is a detailed picture on the other side of the page. The text and pictures complement one another. There is also a moral to be learned at the end of the story. Which make this book a very worthy read.
I would use this book to teach my children. They would enjoy looking at the pictures, and they would also learn some great life lessons. They would be better kids for reading this book.

[JJ Waggy]

This worked a lot better for me when I was a kid, I think--although I will say that, in reading it as an adult, I couldn't not read it aloud. I think that's the magic of this series; it begs to be read to other people, and this is no exception. The writing itself--the wordplay, the alliterative sounds, the comparative structures--is great. I think a lot of my writing now can be traced back to hearing the cadence of books like this; I mean, "They were more like meadow mice that you might mingle with on a medium morning in May or maybe March" is just a hell of a line to be able to put in prose. The illustrations are also quite lovely and vibrant.

But I just can't, as an adult, get past the annoying mice who do nothing and then are pathetic and are taken in anyway. Perhaps I've grown up to be really bad at grace, but I found myself more annoyed than anything else at the end of the book. Ah, for the child's ability to heed the message without getting caught up in the vehicle!

In any case, read this to your kids. Read it aloud. Just don't try and analyze it yourself.

[Sandra Stiles]

Tweezle Dee was a prarie mouse. The other prairie mice played and had fun while Tweezle Dee hunted and gathered to prepare for the winter. When winter came the other mice realized they should have been preparing. They went to Tweezle Dee and she turned them away. She was lonely and went in search of them with a plan in mind. She had wanted to play during the summer but she didn’t know how. If they would teach her the games she would teach them what they needed to do to prepare for the winter. I loved this little book.

[Kat]

Basic plot: Work is valuable, but laughter makes it more enjoyable.

I think I got my first Serendipity book through a Scholastic book order or book fair. I quickly became obsessed and collected a ton and a half of them as a child. I would spend hours just looking at the pictures because the art is simply gorgeous. The stories were whimsical and fun, and always ended with some sort of life lesson for kids. I kept reading these books long after other picture books had been set aside.

[Dee]

A wonderful tale about work/life balance. Most children's books focus on hard work, showing the value of putting your nose to the grindstone, but they neglect to show the value of enjoying life as well. This story shows the importance of both work and play.

[Ilana]

This series of books is the most wonderfully illustrated, sweetest series available for children. Each book is beautiful, the animals are so sweetly drawn and each book teaches a wonderful lesson. I still have all of my original copies from my childhood (the 90s).

[Kelly Holmes]

I didn't like this as much as the Serendipity stories, but it was still good.

[Linda Irvine]

One of my absolute favorites of the entire series. I think of this little mouse all the time.

[LeeAnn G]

This is the second book of this series my mom got me. Love these books so much.

[Kristin]

This book taught me how to live my life.

[Ashley]

Check out my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing for my thoughts and memories of the Serendipity series!

[Roo]

A childhood fav

[Karie]

We love this book

[Love Flowers]

This is a classic book for infants - highly recommend.
For Sale on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171200867498?...

[Mikana]

Such a sweet tale that doesn't get old. This is a beautiful "tail" to share with your loved ones, with good morales and images.

[Raelynn Bontrager]

This was SOOOO cute!!