The Christmas Mouse

by Toby Forward

An enchanting re-telling of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol .Ben doesn’t care about Christmas until one Christmas Eve he is visited by a mysterious stranger who sets him a night-time challenge, which leads to his chance discovery of the value of friendship and the true meaning of Christmas.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Animals

40 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Toby Forward is the author of many books for children, including Shakespeare's Globe. He has also written for adults. Toby Forward lives in Liverpool, England, with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A retelling of Dickens Christmas Carol with mouse characters. The text and the illustrations were good, plenty of detail and interesting. I liked the view of the mouse world, just below our floors, between our walls but a parallel version of ours with all the same problems and advantages. I think this would be an enjoyable glimpse into a mouse world at Christmas for the young reader that enjoys the slightly more text heavy picture book.

[Emma Otusajo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the illustrations in this story, depicting mice and how they might have lived back in the early 19th Century. The story is about Ben, a greedy and miserable mouse who hates Christmas and anything to do with it. (Sound familiar?) Then one night - the night before Christmas - a mysterious little mouse comes for Ben and makes him a bet that he can't find one person that would prefer his rather prized possession - his candied plum - more than spending Christmas with anyone. Off they go, and come across another mouse, who suddenly, Ben feels compelled to give his plum too.
Essentially the story is a spin on the Dickens' classic story 'A Christmas Carol' aimed at children. It is quite nice that also alongside the illustrations of the mice, are illustrations showing the story of Scrooge, to show the similarities in the story.

No need to tell you the end, but it is a lovely tale that can be read to a class - between year 2 - year 3 or 4. As the text is fairly detailed, it would be fine for good readers in year 3 or 4 as well.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forward has written a very clever pastiche of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, using mice as the main characters instead of people. Ben is the eBENezer of the mouse world, and Tim is, well, Tiny Tim. In the illustrations, readers can see the human Ebenezer and his ghosts in the background of the main story.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the illustrations and 3 for the narration.

It’s a retelling of A Christmas Carol… but not quite. The evening’s visitation that Ben Mouse experiences has its differences from Ebenezer’s, but what I thought was clever, is that each page shows Ben and his “ghost” as well as Ebenezer’s and his.

Ages: 4 - 10

Cleanliness: nothing to note.

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[Barbara Bland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story. The illustrations are wonderful. Love how he shows the story of A Christmas Carol by Dickens in the shadows. It is a wonderful teaching story for children. My grandson definitely needs this (🤣). It made him stop and think and we had a discussion about the meaning of the story!

[Catherine Pinkett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a version of Christmas carol most years. This is a beautifully illustrated version with mice characters. Loved it

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mouse version of Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol, but with a twist. In this version, Ben and Tim are friends. Tim is poor and Ben is rich. Ghosts appear to Ben when he shuns Tim's gift. As the Ghosts visit, we also notice that in the back ground a man is silently being visited by Ghosts as well. The man is, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge. The First Ghost and Ben strike a deal. If Ben can get someone to accept his plum, he gets to get a wonderful night of sleep. Ben has three tries to accomplish his part of the task. Ben tries, but even the poor mice will have nothing to do with him---his bad reputation evident in their tone towards him. On his final try, Ben is taken to Tim's house. Ben thinks that Tim will certainly accept his plum. Unfortunately, Tim is too dead--starved and frozen in his humble bed to even acknowledge Ben's present. Ben is heart-broken and pleads for another chance to be a better friend to Tim. The bells toll and Ben (and Ebenezar) are both given a second chance at being kind and loving human beings. Naturally, they both succeed. This illustrations in the story a exquisite and fit the tale nicely. We enjoyed reading it aloud. This is an AR 3.4 level book.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is supposed to be a retelling of Charles Dickens's famous A Christmas Carol for young children, but, unless you've read the original and can use it to fill in the gaps in this story, Ben's carol doesn't read well. There are places where there isn't enough explanation offered, and places where the story jumps a bit. I liked how the illustrations alluded to the original while depicting Ben's story, but I think the author would have written a better book had he focused on writing a stand-alone story rather than trying to weave parts of the original in without adequate explanation. Great idea, just not well-executed.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely children's book. A children's 'retelling' of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. Told through the story of a mouse. The illustrations in this book is BEUTIFULLY done! And even she includes in small parts of each picture references to the original A Christmas Carol. Young readers-listeners wouldn't know the connection but it's wonderful for us adult readers brings back nice memories of the classic and a wonderful way to introduce this Christmas classic to your youngster in your life!

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loosely based on Dicken's Christmas Carol, it tells the story of Ben, a mouse who has a candied plum for Christmas. A white mouse visits him and Ben discovers what others think of him. It changes his mind about himself, other mice, and Christmas. Above Ben's story are scenes from A Christmas Carol that correspond with Ben's story. A cute story. Beautiful artwork.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great!! I really loved how Ben was placed with Ebeneezer Scrooge throughout the entire story. Although this is more heartwarming and the mice are just so cute!! I thought it was a nice twist to make a mouse into a Scrooge.... =)

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This retelling had none of the dark humor of the original and the brevity of the text did not allow for building the emotional impact I'd expect. To me, it doesn't work as a kid's (lite) version of the story - only works if you have already read the original - and then it falls short, of course!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful and I love the fact that the Charles Dickens tale is being told in the world above the mice. My one complaint about the actual story is that it is choppy, I would have liked to see better transitions.

[Alexandria K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is Ben's Christmas Carol, but it also has the ghost and Scrooge from A Christmas Carol in some of the pictures. This book has pretty pictures in it, too.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute story! It is fast paced enough for the little ones. Illustrations are very nice.

[Mattie Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favorite. Follows themes and sequence of Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol." Beautiful illustrations and meaning.