The Little Drummer Mouse
by Mercer Mayer
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Description
A little mouse who is teased for being the smallest and for playing an acorn drum is singled out to give a gift to the very special child who has been born in a nearby stable.Tags
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Member Reviews
Who doesn't love Mercer Mayer? All children should grow up with his Little Critter books.
This book was created in tribute to Mayer's first grandchild, a touching side note.
As a fan of the Brambly Hedge books and various illustrators of The Wind in the Willows, the cover itself draws my admiration. The first half of the book depicts mouse family life nicely, but the best parts begin in the middle. Our hero lies awake one winter night in the mouse den crowded with family, and decides to seek the rumored king discussed in the first part. From there he enters the human world, but the illustrations retain the mouse point of view.
Although this is not, by far, the best depiction of the Nativity itself, it adds to the narrative and has it's own show more visual richness. show less
This book was created in tribute to Mayer's first grandchild, a touching side note.
As a fan of the Brambly Hedge books and various illustrators of The Wind in the Willows, the cover itself draws my admiration. The first half of the book depicts mouse family life nicely, but the best parts begin in the middle. Our hero lies awake one winter night in the mouse den crowded with family, and decides to seek the rumored king discussed in the first part. From there he enters the human world, but the illustrations retain the mouse point of view.
Although this is not, by far, the best depiction of the Nativity itself, it adds to the narrative and has it's own show more visual richness. show less
This book is extremely cute! A nice retelling of the night that a special baby was born. Also, a heartwarming tale of a mouse just waiting to be heard. =)
A little mouse who plays his acorn drum everywhere happens to be bothersome to everyone around him, so he finds himself alone playing his drum to the stars. All the animals in the forest prepare for a great King’s arrival, but sadly the King never came. The little drummer mouse, seeking an adventure, follows three wise men searching for the newborn King, and to his delight, finds him. Being small, the little drummer mouse thought no one would notice him; being caught up in the turn of events, everyone noticed the little drummer mouse and he found himself playing his acorn drum to the delight of the newborn King.
Aww this book has pretty pictures in it. The story is cute, too.
Characters unkind to the little mouse
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Author Information

536+ Works 132,027 Members
Mercer Mayer was born December 30, 1943 in Little Rock Arkansas. While attending school at the Honolulu Museum of Art, Mayer decided to enter the field of children's book illustration. He created a portfolio of sketches and peddled them wherever he could. He moved to New York City in 1964, pursuing further instruction at the Art Students League of show more New York, where he met an artist named Marianna who became his first wife. He soon created a new portfolio and with these new sketches persuaded editors at Dial Press and Harper & Row to give him some illustration work. Mayer published his first book, A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, at Dial Press in 1967. It was notable for being a completely wordless picture book one that tells its story entirely with pictures. Mayer was one of the first illustrators to be credited for using this format. Five more books in this series were to follow. Mayer joined Golden Publishing, creators of Little Golden Books, in 1976. Through them he has sold his "Little Critter" and "Little Monster" series, which are popular with beginning readers. His title Just Me and My Dad made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. In 2015, his title Little Critter: Just a Little Love, also made the list. His holiday book, Merry Christmas Mom and Dad, is also a bestseller. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2006
- Epigraph
- When I first saw you,
I just had to dance.
And, if I was a pony,
I would have to prance.
And, if I played guitar,
I would have to strum.
And, if I was a drummer,
I would have to drum.
But, I am... (show all) your grandpa,
And so I wrote a poem. - Dedication
- For Autumn Sage Mayer, our first grandchild
- First words
- It had always seemed, for as long as the little mouse could remember, that he followed along behind.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He was leading instead.
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Statistics
- Members
- 487
- Popularity
- 61,990
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.77)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1






















































