The Kitten Who Thought He Was A Mouse

The Kitten Who Thought He Was A Mouse
By Miriam Norton
Illustrated by Garth Williams

Pippi loves all things cats.  And this sweet book, illustrated by Garth Williams, is as cute as cat books get.  If the name Garth Williams sounds familiar, open up your copy of Stuart Little or a Little House book and take a peek at the illustrations.  Yep, one and the same. 

So the story goes, a kitten is abandoned, and found by the Miggses, a family of mice.

The mouse children, Lester and his two sisters, persuade Mother and Father Miggs to take in the homeless kitten and bring him up as a mouse.  Mother and Father consent, and they name the kitten Mickey Miggs.

"After his eyes opened, he began to grow up just as mice do, eating all kinds of seeds and bugs and drinking from puddles and sleeping in a cozy pile of brother and sister mice."

And Father and Mother Miggs teach him the ways of mice, what to eat, where to sleep, and what to avoid.  Namely Hazel, the house cat, and mousetraps.



All goes according to the Miggses plan.  Mickey grows up as a mouse.  He squeaks as well as any mouseling, only singing as a cat now and then to distract Hazel so that the mice can raid the pantry.  Then, one day, Mickey meets the house children, Peggy and Paul.  They coax Mickey out of the mouse hole with a saucer of milk, a strange substance previously unknown to Mickey.

But, to the dismay of the Miggs family, Mickey discovers he likes - no loves - milk.  Paul and Peggy leave milk for Mickey each morning, and over time, Mickey becomes comfortable around the children.  Until one day, he catches sight of himself in a mirror.  And sees . . . a cat.

Follow the link to read a complete bibliography of Garth Williams books.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Williams