"I'm quick and smart as I can be. Try and try, but you can't catch me!" Mouse Deer sings his song as he walks through the forest looking for tasty fruits and roots and shoots. Though he is small, he is not afraid. He knows that many big animals want to eat him -- but first they have to catch him! In these delightful trickster tales from Southeast Asia, find out how Mouse Deer gets the best of his enemies -- Tiger, Crocodile, and the most dangerous animal of all, Farmer! TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS -- A READER'S THEATER SCRIPT OF THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN AARON'S BOOK "FOLKTALES ON STAGE," OR FREE ON AARON'S WEB SITE. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of "The Baker's Dozen," "The Sea King's Daughter," "The Monkey King," and many more children's books. His stories have appeared often in Cricket magazine, while his Web site is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater. Once a professional storyteller, Aaron specializes in lively retellings of folktales and other traditional literature, which have won him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society. Kim Gamble is one of the most popular children's book illustrators of Australia. He is also a frequent contributor to that country's much-loved School Magazine, where Aaron's Mouse Deer stories first appeared. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "A retelling of some of Southeast Asia's most popular folklore .... Simply narrated, The Adventures of Mouse Deer is witty and steeped in the power of myth, as well as high-spirited determination.... [A] delightful introduction to an enduring legend."-- Small Press Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review, May 2005 "Mouse Deer's small stature leaves him vulnerable in the jungle, but Crocodile, Tiger, and Farmer are no match for this quick-witted, fearless creature. Give this book to children making their first forays into chapter books, and visit the author's Web site to download readers theater scripts." -- Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal, Dec. 1, 2009 ///////////////////////////////////////////////// CONTENTS 1 ~ Mouse Deer and Tiger 2 ~ Mouse Deer and Crocodile 3 ~ Mouse Deer and Farmer ///////////////////////////////////////////////// SAMPLE Then he heard something. ROWR! There was Tiger! "Hello, Mouse Deer. I was just getting hungry. Now you can be my lunch." Mouse Deer didn't want to be lunch. He looked around and thought fast. He saw a mud puddle. "I'm sorry, Tiger. I can't be your lunch. The King has ordered me to guard his pudding." "His pudding?" said Tiger. "Yes. There it is." Mouse Deer pointed to the mud puddle. "It has the best taste in the world. The King doesn't want anyone else to eat it." Tiger looked longingly at the puddle. "I would like to taste the King's pudding." "Oh, no, Tiger! The King would be very angry." "Just one little taste, Mouse Deer! The King will never know." "Well, all right, Tiger. But first let me run far away, so no one will blame me."

Collects folk tales from Indonesia and Malaysia that relate the adventures of the trickster Mouse Deer, who must think and act quickly to avoid being eaten.

A chase, a ride, a chase and hide, and Milton the mouse lands in new territory: the Stewart household. The wily escape artist has the run of the house until one fateful night when he is caught. What do you do with a mouse that hitches a ride home from a camping trip? Feed it? Turn it loose in a strange landscape? Will Milton be happy in captivity? The children give him a cage, a nest, a wheel, and water. Matt plays Beethoven on the piano for him, and Kathleen composes a song about him. “O fie my wandering mouse, how thou dost stray” is all that Dad will say. Milton is content until one day the wild life beckons again, and he escapes. How will the children find him? Will they discover Milton's secret?

Three tales about the favorite trickster of Indonesia and Malaysia.

A boastful strong man learns a lesson harder than his muscles when he encounters one of Nigeria's superheroes in this Hausa tale which explains the origin of thunder. Full-color illustrations.

Sophie Mouse wants to prove how wonderful mice are for a school project she is doing with her brother, Winston, but starts to have doubts when, even with Hattie and Owen's help, she is unable to learn to swim.

Collects folk tales from Indonesia and Malaysia that relate the adventures of the trickster Mouse Deer, who must think and act quickly to avoid being eaten.