Tired of being told what to do, Ralph the mouse rides his toy motorcycle away from home, straight into trouble at a summer camp
A mouse on the open road
Ralph S. Mouse lives in a hotel with his large family, and he is fed up. His mother worries, his relatives boss him around, and nobody lets him ride his toy motorcycle as often as he likes. So Ralph runs away. He heads for the summer camp up the road, picturing freedom and leftover peanut butter sandwiches. Instead he finds a watchful cat, a cranky dog and a lonely boy named Garf who keeps him in a cage.
Who will enjoy it
Young readers who loved The Mouse and the Motorcycle, children who dream of independence, and anyone who enjoys gentle animal adventures.
What you will get
A gentle animal adventure about a headstrong mouse who runs away for freedom, gets caught at a summer camp and learns what home and friendship really mean.
Runaway Ralph Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Talking mouse · Summer camp · Toy motorcycle
Length
175 pages · ≈ 5 h
More about this book
The fun of the book lies in its mix of the ordinary and the magical. Ralph's motorcycle runs on the sound of its own engine noise, and he can talk with certain children, but everything else is very real: the camp, the dangers of cats and dogs, and the pleasures of a good sandwich. Cleary treats Ralph's longing for freedom seriously, and young readers will recognise the feeling.
The heart of the story is Garf, a boy who does not fit in at camp and is wrongly suspected of stealing a watch. Ralph, who first sees him as a jailer, slowly realises that they need each other. The way the two help one another is quietly moving, and Ralph's cleverness in solving the mystery is satisfying.
The pace is gentle, with long stretches of Ralph in his cage, and some readers may find the middle slow. The original Louis Darling drawings add a great deal of charm. It works well as a bedtime read-aloud, a chapter a night. About 175 pages in most editions; newer reillustrated printings run a little longer.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
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