Ralph S. Mouse #1

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

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A reckless young mouse named Ralph makes friends with a boy in room 215 of the Mountain View Inn and discovers the joys of motorcycling until he falls into a wastepaper basket, in a read-aloud edition of the classic tale. An ALA Notable Children's Book.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1965

This edition

Format
160 pages, Hardcover
Published
May 1, 2006 by HarperCollins
ISBN
9780060588335
ASIN
0060588330
Language
English

About the author

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Beverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.

Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
35(35%)
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99 reviews All reviews
March 26,2025
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“The Mouse and the Motorcycle” was a fun book to read. This book is about a mouse named Ralph who lives in room 215 of an old hotel. Ralph is growing up and doesn't have the trust he thinks he deserves. A boy’s toy motorcycle changed just about everything in Ralph’s life. Ralph and the boy became friends. Ralph had to prove to the boy that they can be friends again and make everything better before the boy leaves the hotel.
t
The book is told in the third person narrative. This story is about Ralph and how he gained more responsibility and became a grown up mouse. Ralph has many challenges that he fights through to make things better for him and his family.

tThe book takes place in room 215 where Keith’s family is staying for the weekend. The story grows bigger and Ralph goes out of the room and all around the hotel. The time period for this book is unknown.

tThe theme of the book is to fix all your mistakes no matter what it takes. It shows how you can lose something that means alot to you but if you do whats right you can fix it and even make the situation better. It also shows how if you help your friends they will forgive you.

I would recommend this book to younger people, because it’s very fictional, easy to read, and it is fun. Children will like this book because there is a lot of fun imagery. I enjoyed this book because it made me laugh at the things Ralph does.
March 26,2025
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I love this children's classic by Beverly Cleary. It's got a mouse and a motorcycle, what's not to like? I love the interaction between Keith and Ralph as two kindred souls found in two different species. This story shows true friendship and I loved watching Ralph "grow up" in the story. I'm passing this one on to my students.
March 26,2025
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Behold, the book that sparked my love of reading.
This book was sent to our family by a relative. I knew how to read, but I hadn't really read on my own, outside of school. Leastways, that's the way I remember it.
I took on this book as a personal challenge. I determined that I would finish it no matter what it took or how long it took.
Well... I finished it within a day or two, if I remember right. I'd read it voraciously through. And the rest was history. I became and still am a frequent visitor to my local library.
Beverly Cleary's books have done that for many children, I think. I'm not a fan of all her books, but there are certain ones of hers that I like. This one set me on a path that I have never regretted. It led me to write my own stories, and to make friends with others who enjoy reading.
So, there you are. Hate this book if you will, but realize that your opinion does not discount mine.
March 26,2025
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Perfect read for the boys! The loved it! A little bit of excitement/ adventure with short, somewhat "dangerous" events. A delightful read. Requesting the rest of the series from the library. An added bonus, because the mouse risks his life to find an asprin for friend, a human boy, when he has a fever, Nate now believes in the importance of taking medicine to help lower his fever:)
March 26,2025
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My favorite part was when Ralph, the mouse, got this toy motorcycle that if he made this noise (pb-b-pb-b...), then it drove. The faster he did it, the faster he went. The slower he did it, the slower he went.
March 26,2025
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A read aloud with my grandson and it was better than when I read it to his momma years ago!!
March 26,2025
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So far so good. I think that Samuel is motivated by the fact that there is a movie to watch about this book once we finish it. He is able to retell parts of this story about how the mouse can make the motorcycle go faster depending on him speeding up the noise he makes.

I never read the book but have fond memories of the movie. It is great to see Samuel's excitement about the story and can verify that he is listening and retaining what he is hearing. I picked out a different book to read to Samuel for the first time and it didn't go well. The content was not age appropriate. I put that book down and picked this book up as the second book I am trying to read to Samuel and it is working out great.

It strengthens my stance on only introducing movies and books that a young mind can handle and to be very thoughtful about discerning which content to expose to a child.
March 26,2025
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Beverly Cleary turned 102 this month. It always amazes me to see how she wrote - how she interspersed her books. Henry, Ramona, Ralph S. Mouse... she wrote a book in the series, then went off to work on something else, and then came back - sometimes decades after the first book - to write another.

Consider, the first book in the Ramona series was written in 1955. The eighth (and last) book was written in 1999. Well, while I'm holding out hope for another, I'm assuming she's done writing them.

I don't think I'd ever read the Ralph S. Mouse books. But we just went to a wedding, and Liz suggested listening to a kids book as the trip was going to be two hours there, and two hours back. (I had suggested Green Day, but couldn't decide between Dookie and American Idiot. There's always the next trip...)

I thought I'd get a kid review out of this, but it got late and everybody fell asleep except for me and Liz. I came pretty close, too.

It may seem petty of me, and I liked the book... and call me crazy for how weird my willing suspension of disbelief is that I can accept a talking mouse, but can't accept the way he starts the motorcycle. That part was too much for me.

But hey, I liked the book.
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