The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban

 

The Mouse and his Child is one of those classic "children's books" that people like me, who are crazy about children's literature, are supposed to have read that's why I decided to borrow it from a local primary school.

Publisher blurb: "Once they are bought and leave the safety of the toy shop, the clockwork mouse and his child begin their search for the beautiful doll's house they had once known. Except, always on their track, determined to destroy them, is the evil Manny Rat."

The hardest part of this book, for me, was reading the way the little windup toy - the mouse and his child and the other precious toys disintegrated. I found this so upsetting and I almost gave up on this book several times. 

In the beginning:

There were "two toy mice, a large one and a small one, who stood upright with outstretched arms and joined hands. They wore blue velveteen trousers and patent leather shoes, and they had glass-bead eyes, white thread whiskers, and black rubber tails. When the saleslady wound the key in the mouse father's back he danced in a circle, swinging his little son up off the counter and down again"

Later the toys are broken, discarded and found by the tramp:

"Only then did he find the mouse and his child inside the papers, crushed almost flat but still holding fast to each other. ... He was able to bend the tin bodies almost back to their original shapes, but he had a great deal of trouble with the clockwork motor. ... The tramp removed those parts and put the toy together as well as he could. Their patent leather shoes had been lost in the dust-bin; their blue velveteen trousers hung wrinkled and awry; their fur had come unglued in several places ... "

Later still after they have endured so much:

"The mouse and his child lay in a puddle on the stone as the water drained out of them. They were spotted, streaked, and pitted with rust at all their joints, and the arms they stretched out to each other were naked, rusty wires. What fur remained was black with rot, and green with moss and algae. Their tattered ears stood bent and crooked on their heads. The whiskers hung in limp dejection."

I kept hoping someone would magically restore the mouse and his child and the other toys - the elephant and the seal - and also that someone would also repair the beautiful doll house. None of this happens but the different form of restoration that does occur meant I finally found something to smile about (yes there is a happy ending) after such a harrowing journey.

Many reviewers list this book as suitable for ages 8+ but I cannot imagine the story would appeal to such a young child. The themes in my view are the search for identity; the importance of others balanced against the need for independence; the triumph of good over evil; life is a journey and as players in this game we have to keep moving forward; and this is also a story of survival against seemingly insurmountable odds.

I talked to my friend Dr Robin Morrow about The Mouse and his Child and she mentioned other deeper themes and references: "The Mouse and his Child is a confronting book, very adult in its searching morality. Things like the Caws of Art drama group are in-jokes for people who know about literary theory, and there is a satirised philosopher who would be funnier for people who had studied philosophy. ... I think it is worth reading just because it has such a Shakespearean villain in Manny Rat."

Illustration by Lillian Hoban

As I read The Mouse and his Child I kept thinking about other classic and well known stories with toys such as The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo; Ollie's Odyssey by William Joyce; and the movie Toy Story. 

Click these review quotes for more plot details - a lot happens in this 200 page book!

A rich disturbing, very touching book. Kirkus

Because the mouse and his child cannot wind themselves, this is a story about being used, long-suffering patience, faith, hope, creative thinking, never giving up, and getting by with a little help from your friends.So Many Books Blog

For all its elegant simplicity, The Mouse and His Child is a surprisingly moving and thought-provoking story, encompassing powerful themes of redemption and transformation. Frequently disturbing due to its unflinching depiction of life's cruelty … it is nevertheless an ultimately uplifting triumph of the--er, windup animal spirit. Ocelot Factory

Toys that talk in secret. A quest for a home. Broken and discarded toys. Adventures and narrow-escapes. A power-crazy villain who rules over a motley team of toys. These are themes that turn up in Toy Story, but they first showed up in The Mouse and his Child. Russell Hoban’s novel was first published in 1967, nearly 30 years before. Wild About There 

Two final quotes from this book:

"Haunting story, written in the spirit of Hans Christian Andersen, manages to be funny and sad at the same time. ... Each chapter introduces new, sometime bizarre situations ... "

"Moving between jokes, contemporary references, and the occasional philosophical conundrum, this poignant, dreamy, and utterly enthralling novel was the last Russell Hoban wrote for children."