Book to Movie #3: The Mouse and the Motorcycle

The Mouse and The Motorcycle
written by Beverly Cleary

I have always been a fan of Beverly Cleary's books, and this book was no exception. I ordered the movie from Scholastic Storybook Treasures, which is a wonderful collection of movies based on children's literature. Many of the boys and girls in my class have read The Mouse and The Motorcycle, but I have never made time to sit down and read the book. I was hooked from the very beginning of the book, and I was excited to watch the movie.

The movie originally aired on ABC as a weekend special in 1991. Scholastic took this same version and made a wonderful DVD full of extras. I was amazed at the movie! Even though it is an older movie, it stays true to the book. Out of the three books I read that have been made into movies, The Mouse and The Motorcycle was the most accurate. It was refreshing to not be disappointed at the end of the movie. Of course, there were a few small modifications, but each event in the book was portrayed in the movie.

My favorite part was when Ralph (the mouse) had to find Keith (the young boy) medicine for his fever. Since Ralph had lost the motorcycle during a vacuum cleaner incident, he used Keith's toy ambulance to retrieve  a fever reducing medicine. This event was the climax in the book and also in the movie. I am happy I purchased this DVD so that I can use it in my classroom. I am now thinking about using this title as a read aloud activity with my class. Following the completion of the book, we can watch the movie and do comparisons and contrasts.

Scholastic Storybook Treasures also provides a DVD for the book Ralph S. Mouse, which is a sequel to The Mouse and The Motorcycle. I will certainly be reading that title and watching the movie!