Mouse Soup: Difference between revisions
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===The Bees and the Mud=== |
===The Bees and the Mud=== |
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A mouse is walking along when a bee nest falls on his head. He tries to reason with the bees to go away, but the bees like his head as their home. The mouse then comes up with a plan to go into a mud hole, |
A mouse is walking along when a bee nest falls on his head. He tries to reason with the bees to go away, but the bees like his head as their home. The mouse then comes up with a plan to go into a mud hole, make the bees think it's his home, passing off increasingly deep mud as different rooms. The bees still like the mouse and his "home", until the rodent ducks his head under the mud, passing it off as his bed, and they decide they dislike his bed, and finally go away, allowing the mouse to go to his real home and take a bath. |
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===Two Large Stones=== |
===Two Large Stones=== |
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Two large stones sit on a hill and, although they enjoy the scenery |
Two large stones sit on a hill and, although they enjoy the scenery, they wonder what's on the other side, as they can't move from the spot where they sit. They ask a bird to check, and the avian flies high into the sky, returning to tell them about buildings and cities and valleys on the other side. The thought of not being able to see all those things makes the stones sad. A hundred years go by and the stones don't say a word. One day, a mouse comes by, the stones ask him to check the other side of the hill. The rodent, (from ground level) checks, and soon tells them that it is the same as the side the stones reside on. This make the stones feel glad that they're not missing anything, but wonder whether the mouse or the bird was right. |
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===The Crickets and the Mouse=== |
===The Crickets and the Mouse=== |
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A cricket gets the urge to sing a song in the middle of the night. But his singing disturbs a female mouse, who is trying to get some sleep. Each time she demands not to have any more music, the cricket misunderstands, and thinks she wants more music and so calls over more and more friends. Soon, |
A cricket gets the urge to sing a song in the middle of the night. But his singing disturbs a female mouse, who is trying to get some sleep. Each time she demands not to have any more music, the cricket misunderstands, and thinks she wants more music and so calls over more and more friends. Soon, there's ten crickets making so much noise with their singing that the lady mouse simply shouts at them to go away, to which the cricket wonders why she didn't say so before. After the crickets go away, the mouse goes back to bed, now finding it too quiet to sleep. |
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===The Thorn Bush=== |
===The Thorn Bush=== |
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A male police mouse comes to the home of an old and female mouse because she is crying. She shows him a thorn bush that is growing out of her chair, that pricked her, when she tried to sit down. The police mouse initially offers to dispose of it, so she can sit down again, but the lady mouse objects, and explains she's crying because it's dying. Right away, the police mouse advises her to throw some water on the thorn bush, causing it to grow into a bunch of roses. To thank the police mouse, the old female mouse gives him both a kiss on the cheek and some of the roses as his payments. |
A male police mouse comes to the home of an old and female mouse because she is crying. She shows him a thorn bush that is growing out of her chair, that pricked her, when she tried to sit down. The police mouse initially offers to dispose of it, so she can sit down again, but the lady mouse objects, and explains she's crying because it's dying. Right away, the police mouse advises her to throw some water on the thorn bush, causing it to grow into a bunch of roses. To thank the police mouse, the old female mouse gives him both a kiss on the cheek and some of the roses as his payments. |
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After finishing his stories, the mouse |
After finishing his stories, the mouse instructs the weasel to bring the things that were associated with the stories: a bees nest, some mud, two stones, ten crickets, and a thorn bush, to put into the soup. The weasel leaves his house, without closing the door on the way out, allowing the mouse to escape and follow the weasel at a distance. The rodent then witnesses the predator suffering for his [[Snipe hunt|fool's errand]], including, getting stung by bees, getting wet and sticky from the mud, struggling with the weight of the the stones, having to jump and scatter to collect the crickets, and getting pricked by the thorn bush. The weasel thinks he'll have a tasty soup, but upon arriving home, the weasel, sees the empty pot, and realizes he has been tricked. The mouse, at this time, hurries back to his own house and, after having some dinner, finishes reading his book.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mouse Soup|last=Lobel|first=Arnold|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|year=1977|isbn=978-0-06-023967-1|location=|pages=|oclc=2542419|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mousesoup00lobe}}</ref> |
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==Audio recording== |
==Audio recording== |
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Revision as of 02:33, 3 August 2020
.jpg) Cover | |
| Author | Arnold Lobel |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Arnold Lobel |
| Series | I Can Read! |
| Genre | Picture book |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
Publication date | 1977 |
| Pages | 64 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-0-06-023967-1 |
| OCLC | 2542419 |
Mouse Soup is a 1977 picture book by noted illustrator Arnold Lobel. Beginning with the simple sentence "A mouse sat under a tree", the book goes on to tell the story of a mouse who has to trick Weasel from turning Mouse into Mouse Soup. He does that by telling stories about Bees and the Mud, Two Large Stones, The Crickets, and The Thorn Bush, and tells Weasel to put them into his soup. It is then assumed that Mouse got away and Weasel got stung by bees.[1][2]
Plot
A male mouse leaves his house to sit under a tree to read a book. While he reads, a weasel suddenly captures him. The weasel then takes the mouse back to his home, thinking of making Mouse Soup with the mouse. Just as the weasel puts the mouse into the pot, the rodent tells the crafty weasel that the soup will not taste good without any stories in it at all. The weasel does feel hungry, but agrees to let the mouse tell him four stories that will go in the pot.
The Bees and the Mud
A mouse is walking along when a bee nest falls on his head. He tries to reason with the bees to go away, but the bees like his head as their home. The mouse then comes up with a plan to go into a mud hole, make the bees think it's his home, passing off increasingly deep mud as different rooms. The bees still like the mouse and his "home", until the rodent ducks his head under the mud, passing it off as his bed, and they decide they dislike his bed, and finally go away, allowing the mouse to go to his real home and take a bath.
Two Large Stones
Two large stones sit on a hill and, although they enjoy the scenery, they wonder what's on the other side, as they can't move from the spot where they sit. They ask a bird to check, and the avian flies high into the sky, returning to tell them about buildings and cities and valleys on the other side. The thought of not being able to see all those things makes the stones sad. A hundred years go by and the stones don't say a word. One day, a mouse comes by, the stones ask him to check the other side of the hill. The rodent, (from ground level) checks, and soon tells them that it is the same as the side the stones reside on. This make the stones feel glad that they're not missing anything, but wonder whether the mouse or the bird was right.
The Crickets and the Mouse
A cricket gets the urge to sing a song in the middle of the night. But his singing disturbs a female mouse, who is trying to get some sleep. Each time she demands not to have any more music, the cricket misunderstands, and thinks she wants more music and so calls over more and more friends. Soon, there's ten crickets making so much noise with their singing that the lady mouse simply shouts at them to go away, to which the cricket wonders why she didn't say so before. After the crickets go away, the mouse goes back to bed, now finding it too quiet to sleep.
The Thorn Bush
A male police mouse comes to the home of an old and female mouse because she is crying. She shows him a thorn bush that is growing out of her chair, that pricked her, when she tried to sit down. The police mouse initially offers to dispose of it, so she can sit down again, but the lady mouse objects, and explains she's crying because it's dying. Right away, the police mouse advises her to throw some water on the thorn bush, causing it to grow into a bunch of roses. To thank the police mouse, the old female mouse gives him both a kiss on the cheek and some of the roses as his payments.
After finishing his stories, the mouse instructs the weasel to bring the things that were associated with the stories: a bees nest, some mud, two stones, ten crickets, and a thorn bush, to put into the soup. The weasel leaves his house, without closing the door on the way out, allowing the mouse to escape and follow the weasel at a distance. The rodent then witnesses the predator suffering for his fool's errand, including, getting stung by bees, getting wet and sticky from the mud, struggling with the weight of the the stones, having to jump and scatter to collect the crickets, and getting pricked by the thorn bush. The weasel thinks he'll have a tasty soup, but upon arriving home, the weasel, sees the empty pot, and realizes he has been tricked. The mouse, at this time, hurries back to his own house and, after having some dinner, finishes reading his book.[3]
Audio recording
In 1978, Scholastic Records issued a 7-inch 331⁄3 r.p.m. record (SCC 2807) of the author reading the story. It was directed by Bernice Chardiet, produced by Robert Mack, and contained music by Albert Hague.[4]
Stop motion film
In 1992, the book was made into a 26-minute musical stop motion animated film by Churchill Films, directed by John Clark Matthews and starring Buddy Hackett as the voice of Mouse.[5][6]
References
- ^ "About Books For Children; Mouse Soup". Garden City Telegram. 15 Jul 1977. p. 23. Retrieved 2019-10-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel". Scholastic Corporation. Archived from the original on 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
- ^ Lobel, Arnold (1977). Mouse Soup. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-023967-1. OCLC 2542419.
- ^ Lobel, Arnold (1978). Mouse Soup (LP record). Bernice Chardiet, director; Albert Hague, music. Scholastic Record & Book Companion Series. OCLC 5972372.
- ^ Matthews, John Clark (1992). Mouse Soup (Stop motion film).
- ^ "Long Ago And Far Away: "Mouse Soup" World premiere". Rapid City Journal. 1992-10-17. p. 50. Retrieved 2019-10-09 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Mouse Soup at IMDb