A Mouse On The Moon
A Mouse On The Moon
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
-­‐-­‐ Dr. Seuss
Pictures By Miss Olivia’s Kindergarten Class:
Hayden, Eli, Archer, Hannah, Dylan, Xander, Molly, Kylie, Calvin & Nolan
Words By Nolan’s dad
Published 2 017
In a tiny hole in a small house there lived a miniscule mouse with big ideas.
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The mouse’s name was Squeakers. He was named after his famous uncle, the great mouse mathematician Reginald B. Squeakers. You might remember when he was named “Rodent of the Year” by Smart Mouse Magazine for inventing string cheese theory.
(Thanks to Reginald B. Squeakers’ work, today everyone knows that the best way to eat mozzarella cheese is by peeling back one tasty strand at a time.)
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Squeakers believed that one day he would also do something special, just like his uncle, such being the first mouse to climb the Swiss Alps. Or come up with the recipe for a dessert you could eat for breakfast: ice cream cheese. Or fly to the moon, which would show mice all around the world that anything was possible.
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One morning, after leaving his tiny hole in his small house, Squeakers saw his neighbor, Chicken. Before Chicken could even sneak out a good morning cluck, Squeakers began speaking quickly and excitedly. “Chicken, one day I’m going to fly to the moon. I’m just going for a visit, not to live there forever. And I’ll send you my first postcard, Chicken. Just you wait and see.”
But Chicken just stuck her beak high in the air and walked away, pecking the stray seeds that lay in front of her.
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So Squeakers walked down the street, and he saw his good friend, Cow. But before Cow could even shake his bell, Squeakers started talking quickly again. “Guess what, Cow? I’m going to be on the cover of Smart Mouse Magazine, just like my uncle. Maybe not this week or next week, but soon. I know cows don’t read Smart Mouse Magazine. They read Brilliant Bovine
and Udder Genius, but I’ll share my
copy with you.”
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Cow, who was busy chomping on the perfect patch of green grass, looked up. Then she let out a long, “Mooooo.” Cow looked down again and continued eating the grass.
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By the time Squeakers got to the playground, he was a little bit frustrated that no one seemed to believe him or even care about his big plans. So when he saw Giraffe playing basketball with Elephant, Squeakers ran up to them. “Time out!” Squeakers shouted, jolting Giraffe and Elephant. Everyone stopped and stared at the mouse. 9
Squeakers rambled on again, very excited this time: “one day I’m going to grow tall like you,” he said, almost out of breath now. “And I’ll be able to dunk that basketball right through the hoop, just like you. And then I’m going to be on the cover of Smart Mouse Magazine and fly to the moon. That’s all. What do you think?”
Giraffe and Elephant looked at Squeakers. Then they looked at each other. And then they started playing basketball again, as if nothing happened at all. 10
Now Squeakers was steaming mad. He didn’t think any of his friends believed that he could do great things. So he went back home to his tiny hole in his small house. He began thinking, grabbed his toolbox and started building. And 37 days later, Squeakers emerged from his tiny hole in the wall, exhausted but smiling. He had built a rocket ship out of an old paper towel tube, a snow cone cup and a firecracker. It was fueled by nacho cheese, naturally. He also made a space suit and a little car out of a roller skate he found, so that he could drive all over the moon once he arrived. 11
Three days later, Squeakers landed on the moon. He stepped out of his rocket ship and stared at Earth, which looked like a beautiful blue balloon in the distance. He wished Chicken was there to see it. While he remembered, he scribbled on a postcard and floated it back toward Earth, just as he promised, hoping it would find its way to Chicken. Then he drove around the surface of the moon in his car, bouncing off craters and kicking up moon dust. 12
Squeakers then took out a ball and hoop, which he brought to the moon to practice basketball. Because there is only a little bit of gravity on the moon, Squeakers was able to jump and soar through the air, easily dunking the ball through the hoop for the first time ever. (It was a good thing Squeakers tied some strong string cheese from his foot to a giant moon rock or he might still be sailing through space.) When Squeakers finally landed back on the ground, he wished Giraffe and Elephant were there to see him dunk. 13
Soon enough, Squeakers got bored. His missed his friends Chicken, Cow, Giraffe and Elephant. And he missed his tiny hole in his small house. So he packed up his rocket and headed back down to Earth. About three days later, Squeakers landed right outside his house, in the same spot he took off from. To his surprise, his friends were all waiting for him. They clapped and cheered, running up to squeakers and giving him high fives. 14
“You did it, you really did it,” Chicken said. “We’re so sorry we doubted you,” Giraffe said. Elephant trumpeted loudly. Cow ran up with with the postcard in one hand and something else in his hand, holding it up for all to see. “Squeakers, you made the cover of Smart Mouse Magazine! You’re “Rodent of the Year!” I’ll share my
copy with you.”
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Squeakers smiled. He had an idea. He ran into his tiny hole in his small house to grab his toolbox and he came back out. “What are you doing?” Chicken clucked. “Why, I’m making a bigger rocket ship,” Squeakers said. “After all, getting a mouse on the moon is no big deal. But getting a Mouse, Chicken, Cow, Giraffe and Elephant on the moon — well, now that’s something to celebrate!”
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The end.
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