A very young Mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the very first time he ventured out. And this is the story he told his mother about his adventures.
"I was strolling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next yard, I saw two strange creatures. One of them had a very kind and gracious look, but the other was the most fearful monster you can imagine. You should have seen him.
"On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of raw red meat. He walked about restlessly, tearing up the ground with his toes, and beating his arms savagely against his sides. The moment he caught sight of me he opened his pointed mouth as if to swallow me, and then he let out a piercing roar that frightened me almost to death."
Can you guess who it was that our young Mouse was trying to describe to his mother? It was nobody but the Barnyard Rooster and the first one the little Mouse had ever seen.
"If it had not been for that terrible monster," the Mouse went on, "I should have made the acquaintance of the pretty creature, who looked so good and gentle. He had thick, velvety fur, a meek face, and a look that was very modest, though his eyes were bright and shining. As he looked at me he waved his fine long tail and smiled.
"I am sure he was just about to speak to me when the monster I have told you about let out a screaming yell, and I ran for my life."
"My son," said the Mother Mouse, "that gentle creature you saw was none other than the Cat. Under his kindly appearance, he bears a grudge against every one of us. The other was nothing but a bird who wouldn't harm you in the least. As for the Cat, he eats us. So be thankful, my child, that you escaped with your life, and, as long as you live, never judge people by their looks." by Aesop
What's the moral of the story?Do not trust alone to outward appearances.
'Dickery, dickery, dock! the mouse ran up the clock; The clock struck one, and the mouse ran down, Dickery, dickery, dock!
Download and print this Mother Goose coloring page for your little one to color. Click for the largest available size.
A young Mouse in search of adventure was running along the bank of a pond where lived a Frog. When the Frog saw the Mouse, he swam to the bank and croaked:
"Won't you pay me a visit? I can promise you a good time if you do."
The Mouse did not need much coaxing, for he was very anxious to see the world and everything in it. But though he could swim a little, he did not dare risk going into the pond without some help.
The Frog had a plan. He tied the Mouse's leg to his own with a tough reed. Then into the pond he jumped, dragging his foolish companion with him.
The Mouse soon had enough of it and wanted to return to shore; but the treacherous Frog had other plans. He pulled the Mouse down under the water and drowned him. But before he could untie the reed that bound him to the dead Mouse, a Hawk came sailing over the pond. Seeing the body of the Mouse floating on the water, the Hawk swooped down, seized the Mouse and carried it off, with the Frog dangling from its leg. Thus at one swoop he had caught both meat and fish for his dinner.
What is the moral to the story?Those who seek to harm others often come to harm themselves through their own deceit.
The mini book "Mousie Gray and Stuffy" fold on dotted lines to make the four page book.
Church mice are considered collectible by some people who purchase them at charity auctions. Although I am one that generally believes all toys should be played with, I will share with visitors how to make these small dolls for display so that they might be auctioned or sold for ministry fund raising.
Left, sock mice ready to be dressed in costumes and have their stands finished. Center, I used the cotton covered chenille stems to help balance the mice on the stands. Right, these mice have eyes made from pom-poms, beads and pink felt circles.
To make sock mice that will stand or sit permanently, the mouse should be attached to a stand. This stand should keep the mouse in whatever position is originally intended to flatter it's clothing or animation. Sock mice are very soft, flexible and light weight - so the stand need not be made out of heavy material. The examples I show on this post are made from a cardboard, molded orange crate that I found at a local market. It was clean and I liked it's interesting texture. If you can't find one of these, use a small box. Little boxes may be weighted down to make the stand heavier if needed, so there is an advantage to using them instead of molded cardboard. I used the wire tails of my sock mice to balance them as I wished in this case; so there was no need of weighting the stands.
Supply List:
cotton batting fiber for stuffing the mouse or mice
baby socks in colors of mic: white, brown, grey and black
needle and threads to match the sock fabric
pale pink pom-poms for the mouse nose
pink felt for the inner lining of the mouse ear
white chenille stems for the wire arms and legs of the mouse
small beads for the eyes
a base to support the mouse in a standing position if you wish
thread or fishing line for the mouse whiskers
Left, pulp crate used to transport oranges recycled into stands for my sock mice. Center, close-up view of stand. Right, see details of sock mouse face, ears, eyes and nose.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
I decided to cut the infant socks in half lengthwise. This made is easier to stuff their bodies into slender shapes, thus making their costumes more attractive in my own opinion. Remember that knitted socks do stretch a great deal and you will always need less material from them than anticipated in the beginning. I also wanted to ensure that I would have leftover sock scraps for the ears of the mice.
When I stitched down the length of the sock, I turned the rough sides together instead of the smooth. Most church mice made from socks present the smooth knitting as the skin but I found the rougher, inside parts of the socks to be more like fur, so I stitched the material in the reverse.
While sewing the seam, you want to make sure that the toe of the sock is sewn shut in the shape of a gradually narrow point. This will form the structure of the mouse's snout.
Turn the sewn parts inside out to hide the seam.
Stuff the main body with soft cotton batting, not polyester, cotton only. Polyester will collapse over time. If the mouse is intended for display, the cotton batting will help the body of the mouse to remain upright and stiff.
Do not sew the bottom part of the sock after sewing the sides just yet. You can, however, tack the opening shut in the center with thread at the point.
Shape the small rodent's head and snout while stuffing the body. You may wish to tie a bit of thread to form the neck of the mouse permanently.
Cut from the remaining sock scraps two round shapes for the ears. You can trace around a coin for the ear shapes. Do the same on top of a bit of pink felt.
Now stitch together and around the felt and sock ear pieces, leaving a small hole to turn them inside out.
Pinch the ear pieces together and tack these with a stitch.
Now sew the tiny ears to the mouse head, one on either side.
You can sew or hot glue a tiny pink pom-pom to the tip of the mouse snout for it's nose.
Thread a needle with fishing line and sew whiskers securely in and out of the snout. Clip the whiskers leaving some of the thread to stick out as you go.
Sew on beads for eyes.
Take a chenille stem and thread it inside the bottom of the mouse torso to form the legs of the mouse. Sew the remaining sock material firmly around the wire to make the legs stiff. Shape the knit around the top of the legs with the needle and thread. (see photo)
Bend the tiny chenille feet of the mouse and then hot glue these to the stand.
Not take a second chenille stem and twist cotton batting around it to form the tail of the mouse. Roll the stem between the palms of your hands vigorously to adhere the white glue, batting and chenille stem together.
Using a needle and matching thread attach a generous length of the wire tail to the back side of the mouse.
Shape the tail as you like with loops and turns. Hot glue the end or some curve of the tail to the base in order to give the display mouse balance. (see photos)
Attach a length of the chenille stem to the mouse across it's back to form arms. You can roll this stem in batting or cover it with knit sock or leave it plain. In any case, the costume of the mouse will be permanent so some of these attachments will not be fully seen after you have finished dressing the church mouse in the end. So, make your choices according to the costume you select to dress the mouse in.
His and her church mouse bookplates for little ones to label their literary collections. Just write each child's name above the mouse graphic, cut out the bookplate and paste it inside the book cover or onto the first page of each book belonging to your child. The designs are by Martha Feller King. You can find more of her bookplates for children here. Book plates are for personal projects only and should not be redistributed from any other website but this one. Do not sale the images.
Black and white church mouse book plates for a little girl.
Black and white church mouse book plates for a little boy.
The Weasels and the Mice were always up in arms against each other. In every battle the Weasels carried off the victory, as well as a large number of the Mice, which they ate for dinner next day. In despair the Mice called a council, and there it was decided that the Mouse army was always beaten because it had no leaders. So a large number of generals and commanders were appointed from among the most eminent Mice.
To distinguish themselves from the soldiers in the ranks, the new leaders proudly bound on their heads lofty crests and ornaments of feathers or straw. Then after long preparation of the Mouse army in all the arts of war, they sent a challenge to the Weasels.
The Weasels accepted the challenge with eagerness, for they were always ready for a fight when a meal was in sight. They immediately attacked the Mouse army in large numbers. Soon the Mouse line gave way before the attack and the whole army fled for cover. The privates easily slipped into their holes, but the Mouse leaders could not squeeze through the narrow openings because of their head-dresses. Not one escaped the teeth of the hungry Weasels.
What is the moral of the story? Greatness has its penalties.
Visit Lili and learn about The Mouse Mansion today!
Here is a little description about pet mice; it is written in a style of letter form called cursive. See if you can read it aloud to your parents. Go here to practice learning more cursive!
This is Mrs. Tittlemouse. She is doing her spring cleaning.
Once upon a time there was a wood-mouse, and her name was Mrs. Tittlemouse.
She lived in a bank under a hedge.
Such a funny house! There were yards and yards of sandy passages, leading to storerooms and nut-cellars and seed-cellars, all amongst the roots of the hedge.
There was a kitchen, a parlour, a pantry, and a larder.
Also, there was Mrs. Tittlemouse's bedroom, where she slept in a little box bed!
Mrs. Tittlemouse was a most terribly tidy particular little mouse, always sweeping and dusting the soft sandy floors.
Sometimes a beetle lost its way in the passages.
"Shuh! shuh! little dirty feet!" said Mrs. Tittlemouse, clattering her dust-pan.
And one day a little old woman ran up and down in a red spotty cloak.
"Your house is on fire, Mother Ladybird! Fly away home to your children!"
Another day, a big fat spider came in to shelter from the rain.
"Beg pardon, is this not Miss Muffet's?"
"Go away, you bold bad spider! Leaving ends of cobweb all over my nice clean house!"
She bundled the spider out at a window.
He let himself down the hedge with a long thin bit of string.
Mrs. Tittlemouse went on her way to a distant storeroom, to fetch cherry-stones and thistle-down seed for dinner.
All along the passage she sniffed, and looked at the floor.
"I smell a smell of honey; is it the cowslips outside, in the hedge? I am sure I can see the marks of little dirty feet."
Suddenly round a corner, she met Babbitty Bumble--"Zizz, Bizz, Bizzz!" said the bumble bee.
Mrs. Tittlemouse looked at her severely. She wished that she had a broom.
"Good-day, Babbitty Bumble; I should be glad to buy some beeswax. But what are you doing down here? Why do you always come in at a window, and say Zizz, Bizz, Bizzz?" Mrs. Tittlemouse began to get cross.
"Zizz, Wizz, Wizzz!" replied Babbitty Bumble in a peevish squeak. She sidled down a passage, and disappeared into a storeroom which had been used for acorns.
Mr. Jackson in her parlor.
Mrs. Tittlemouse had eaten the acorns before Christmas; the storeroom
ought to have been empty.
But it was full of untidy dry moss.
Mrs. Tittlemouse began to pull out the moss. Three or four other bees put their heads out, and buzzed fiercely.
"I am not in the habit of letting lodgings; this is an intrusion!" said Mrs. Tittlemouse. "I will have them turned out--" "Buzz! Buzz! Buzzz!"--"I wonder who would help me?" "Bizz, Wizz, Wizzz!"
"I will not have Mr. Jackson; he never wipes his feet."
Mrs. Tittlemouse decided to leave the bees till after dinner.
When she got back to the parlour, she heard some one coughing in a fat voice; and there sat Mr. Jackson himself!
He was sitting all over a small rocking-chair, twiddling his thumbs and smiling, with his feet on the fender.
He lived in a drain below the hedge, in a very dirty wet ditch.
"How do you do, Mr. Jackson? Deary me, you have got very wet!"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mrs. Tittlemouse! I'll sit awhile and dry myself," said Mr. Jackson.
He sat and smiled, and the water dripped off his coat tails. Mrs. Tittlemouse went round with a mop.
He sat such a while that he had to be asked if he would take some dinner?
First she offered him cherry-stones. "Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Tittlemouse! No teeth, no teeth, no teeth!" said Mr. Jackson.
He opened his mouth most unnecessarily wide; he certainly had not a tooth in his head.
Then she offered him thistle-down seed--"Tiddly, widdly, widdly! Pouff, pouff, puff!" said Mr. Jackson. He blew the thistle-down all over the room.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mrs. Tittlemouse! Now what I really--_really_ should like--would be a little dish of honey!"
"I am afraid I have not got any, Mr. Jackson," said Mrs. Tittlemouse.
"Tiddly, widdly, widdly, Mrs. Tittlemouse!" said the smiling Mr. Jackson, "I can _smell_ it; that is why I came to call."
Mr. Jackson rose ponderously from the table, and began to look into the cupboards.
Mrs. Tittlemouse followed him with a dish-cloth, to wipe his large wet footmarks off the parlour floor.
When he had convinced himself that there was no honey in the cupboards, he began to walk down the passage.
"Indeed, indeed, you will stick fast, Mr. Jackson!"
"Tiddly, widdly, widdly, Mrs. Tittlemouse!"
First he squeezed into the pantry.
"Tiddly, widdly, widdly? no honey? no honey, Mrs. Tittlemouse?"
There were three creepy-crawly people hiding in the plate-rack. Two of them got away; but the littlest one he caught.
Then he squeezed into the larder. Miss Butterfly was tasting the sugar; but she flew away out of the window.
"Tiddly, widdly, widdly, Mrs. Tittlemouse; you seem to have plenty of visitors!"
"And without any invitation!" said Mrs. Thomasina Tittlemouse.
They went along the sandy passage--"Tiddly widdly--" "Buzz! Wizz! Wizz!"
He met Babbitty round a corner, and snapped her up, and put her down again.
"I do not like bumble bees. They are all over bristles," said Mr. Jackson, wiping his mouth with his coat-sleeve.
"Get out, you nasty old toad!" shrieked Babbitty Bumble.
Mrs. Tittlemouse makes her front entrance much smaller.
"I shall go distracted!" scolded Mrs. Tittlemouse.
She shut herself up in the nut-cellar while Mr. Jackson pulled out the bees-nest. He seemed to have no objection to stings.
When Mrs. Tittlemouse ventured to come out--everybody had gone away.
But the untidiness was something dreadful--"Never did I see such a mess--smears of honey; and moss, and thistledown--and marks of big and little dirty feet--all over my nice clean house!"
She gathered up the moss and the remains of the beeswax.
Then she went out and fetched some twigs, to partly close up the front door.
"I will make it too small for Mr. Jackson!"
She fetched soft soap, and flannel, and a new scrubbing brush from the storeroom. But she was too tired to do any more. First she fell asleep in her chair, and then she went to bed.
"Will it ever be tidy again?" said poor Mrs. Tittlemouse.
Next morning she got up very early and began a spring cleaning which lasted a fortnight.
She swept, and scrubbed, and dusted; and she rubbed up the furniture with beeswax, and polished her little tin spoons.
When it was all beautifully neat and clean, she gave a party to five other little mice, without Mr. Jackson.
He smelt the party and came up the bank, but he could not squeeze in at the door.
So they handed him out acorn-cupfuls of honey-dew through the window, and he was not at all offended.
He sat outside in the sun, and said--"Tiddly, widdly, widdly! Your very good health, Mrs. Tittlemouse!"
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her. "Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you." The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go. Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free. "You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."
What is the moral of the story? A kindness is never wasted.
Above, I have restored a tiny mouse pattern for you to embroider. Include him on a quilt, blanket or tea towel, if you'd like. He might also look charming on a little child's apron or pillow too.
"Time of the Church" is book number one out of a series of three, following two very curious mice, Smudge and Smidge, who decide to make a church their new home. There is a very old and wise church mouse called Elder Mouse who insists his new mice pupils should learn about the ways of all people and mice who take refuge in a Lutheran church. He first teaches them about Pentecost, it's symbols and celebrations found in scripture and practiced weekly and then after - The Holy Trinity and Reformation Day etc... Soon Smudge and Smidge are coloring and sewing all kinds of art to represent their new understanding. Included with each of the three books in the set are puzzles, games and crafts for little folks to follow along with the two artistic mice.
Here about the journey of two church mice to learn about the times of the church and The Holy Trinity.
The Mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the Cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day. Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought good enough. At last a very young Mouse got up and said: "I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful. All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat's neck. When we hear the bell ringing we will know immediately that our enemy is coming." All the Mice were much surprised that they had not thought of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their good fortune, an old Mouse arose and said: "I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good. But let me ask one question: Who will put the bell on the Cat?" Aesop's Fables
What's the moral of the story? "It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it!"
A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple food only to be polite. After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she gladly said yes. When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses, indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table, followed by the House Dog. The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella. "You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."
