Momo celebrating time to read: Manxmouse by Paul Gallico

This book has twelve chapters and each reads like a short story. We first meet Manxmouse as he is created by a ceramic artist who specializes in making mice. On this night, however, he has been drinking and his newest mouse looks very odd. This chapter is entitled "The story of the Tiddly Mouse-Maker."

"In the first place it was not grey but an utterly mad blue. It had a fat little body like an opossum, hind feet like those of a kangaroo, the front paws of a money and instead of delicate and transparent ears, these were long and much more like those of a rabbit and what's more they were blue too, and violently orange-coloured on the inside."

And of course this little creation has no tail - just a button.

As the clock strikes thirteen, Manxmouse makes his getaway. He discovers his fate lies with meeting a manx cat and so his long adventures filled with interesting characters begins. He meets a movie star, an elephant in a circus, a greedy pet shop owner, a long-distance truck driver, a taxi driver, a tiger and a lonely child named Wendy H Troy. He flies on the back of a hawk who talks like the captain of a passenger jet and rescues a fox from a pack of hunting dogs. Every story feels like a wild ride and readers are sure to keep turning the pages anxious to know the outcome of meeting the fabled manx cat which you are sure to anticipate will end in disaster.

Blurb: The brave little Manxmouse is one-of -a-kind creature on a special journey. But everyone knows who awaits him, for the Manxmouse belongs to the Manx Cat… The Manxmouse is one-of-a-kind. He’s the strangest little mouse you’ll ever see, with bright blue fur, huge rabbit ears and a distinct lack of tail. But Manxmouse doesn’t mind being different. He knows that destiny awaits him, and so Manxmouse sets out on an exciting adventure. He meets tigers and hawks and dastardly pet-shop owners, but there’s someone he dreads and desires to meet more than anyone else. The someone who has been waiting for him all along… the Manx Cat.

I think this book has stood the test of time even though it is quite a quirky tale. Children in Australia may be unfamiliar with some of the settings in London such as Madame Tussaud's wax museum. If this story was your own childhood favourite you could read it as a family read aloud - one chapter per night.

Here is a discover - The Manx Cat is a real breed: The Manx cat is a breed of domestic cat originating on the Isle of Man. It is one of the oldest known cat breeds. The Manx is medium-sized, stocky, and heavily boned, with sloping shoulders and full chests. It has a naturally occurring mutation that shortens the tail, and can be identified as being either a rumpy, a rumpy riser, a stumpy, or a longy.

Manx is also a Celtic language spoken on the Isle of Man. All of the UK references in this book seem a little strange to me now that I have discovered Paul Callico is from the USA.

On my recent trip to Melbourne I visited several bookshops including a few I had not seen before. One was North Melbourne Books and it had the best back list titles and eclectic collection of children's books of any store from my visit.

Manxmouse was published in 1968. You are sure to recognise the name Paul Gallico (1879-1976) and perhaps you read others of his famous books such as The Snow Goose (1941). I didn't realise he wrote Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (1958) but I did love the recent movie. He also wrote The Poseidon Adventure (1968) and again, although it was long ago, I did love the movie. Reading about Paul Gallico I was amazed to find that in 2000, J.K. Rowling declared that Gallico's Manxmouse was one of her favorite childhood books. Again, this one has a movie adaption - this time as a Japanese Anime movie Manxmouse's Great Activity (Tondemo Nezumi Daikatsuyaku). Manxmouse even has his own Wikipedia page.

Here are some previous cover designs (using these to talk to students about appeal and design etc can be a powerful discussion starter).