This story is about a field of mice who never talk about, or wonder about the wall they live by. Tillie the young mouse would stare at the wall and wonder about the other side. Her friends and herself tryed to climb the wall, drill a peep hole with a rusty nail, and they tried to walk to the end of the wall. Then one day Tillie saw a worm diging in the ground and thats when it hit her, if she wanted to get to the other side she was going to have to dig her way. Once she reached the other side she saw that there were mice just like her. They threw her a party and then followed her back to her side. When they arrived they threw another party chanting Tillie's name.

I really enjoyed this story. It had me trying to come up with ways for Tillie to get to the other side of the wall and I also was trying to imagine what was on the other side.

This would be a good short story to read aloud. You can have the student guess what was on the other side or even have them come up with ways to get over the wall. ( )

Some mice take the wall for granted, never speaking of itin fact, never even seeing it. But for Tillie, a mouse who believes that the grass (and scenery) on the other side must be not only greener, but fantastic and beautiful, the lure of the wall proves impossible to ignore. When her glorious visions of the other side prove too much to bear, Tillie tunnels under. Her reception on the other side is a warm oneidentical mice to the ones left behind greet her, and then follow her back home. There, she is a hero, and forever after the mice pass freely back and forth from one side to the other. The mice will look familiar to readers of Lionni's other works, but this storylike all his othersnever falls to formula. His philosophical playfulness is in full force, and Tillie's visitation may be, after all, a circular one, with ambiguities to pore over and be delighted by. It's a journey worth repeating. Ages 3-7.