The Mouse House

by Poppy Green

But Hattie didn’t move. And she seemed kind of nervous, Sophie noticed.

  Sophie followed Hattie’s gaze. Up at the front of the room, Mrs. Wise was looking right at Sophie.

  “And what’s that, Sophie?” Mrs. Wise asked sternly. “Something more important than spelling words?”

  Sophie opened her mouth to answer. But no words came out.

  “Please put it away,” Mrs. Wise added.

  Sophie shoved the note inside her desk. Mrs. Wise went on with her lesson. Sophie tried to focus on the spelling words. But she couldn’t concentrate. She was so embarrassed, she wished she could melt into her chair.

  Finally, Mrs. Wise dismissed everyone to go out to recess. Sophie slinked out the door with her head down.

  Outside on the playground, Ellie ran over.

  “I’m so sorry, Sophie,” Ellie said with a nervous giggle. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

  Something about Ellie’s giggle set Sophie off.

  “I’m glad you can laugh about it,” Sophie snapped. “You’re not the one who got yelled at!”

  Ellie’s face fell. “Oh, no. Sophie, I wasn’t laughing at you—”

  “Just don’t pass me notes in class ever again,” Sophie interrupted. She walked off to swing on the swings by herself.

  Creative Sparks

  That night Sophie tossed and turned in her bed. She’d been trying to fall asleep for a long time. But every time she started to drift off, she remembered what she had said to Ellie.

  Just don’t pass me notes in class ever again.

  Sophie covered her head with her pillow. Ellie had been trying to apologize. “Why did I get so upset?” Sophie asked herself.

  She knew the answer. She had been in a bad mood. She’d gotten so many problems wrong on the quiz. She’d forgotten her lunch. Then she’d been scolded in front of the whole class.

  But there was one more thing, too.

  Sophie took it out on Ellie because Ellie had the mouse house. I’m the one who should say sorry to her, Sophie decided.

  The next morning, when Sophie got to school, she walked right up to Ellie.

  “I’m sorry I got so mad yesterday,” Sophie said. “I was just . . . having a bad day.” She left out the part about feeling jealous.

  Ellie smiled. “That’s okay, Sophie. I understand. It wasn’t fair that you got in trouble and I didn’t.”

  Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. She felt so much better.

  “Hey,” Ellie went on, “do you want to maybe come over and play this weekend? My new squirrel house could really use some furniture. And you’re so artistic!” Ellie clasped her hands together pleadingly. “Maybe you could help me make a few things?”

  Sophie was caught off guard. “Oh! Uh . . . um . . . ,” she stammered. She was racking her brain for an excuse to say no. But her mind was a total blank.

  “Okay!” Sophie blurted out. “Sure!”

  Sophie forced herself to stop in at Handy’s Hardware on the way home.

  Why couldn’t I think of an excuse? she thought. Do I want to make furniture for Ellie’s squirrel house? No! I want to make it for my own mouse house!

  But Sophie had agreed. And now she felt like she needed to help Ellie—at least a little bit.

  I’ll help her make one thing, Sophie decided. Just one!

  She browsed through the hardware store. She looked for ideas in the plumbing section. She rummaged in the wood scrap bin. She looked at doorknobs, locks, fasteners, and tools.

  On one shelf, she spotted spools of twine. Sophie picked one up.

  Sitting on end, this spool would make the perfect tiny table, she thought. And smaller ones—like thread spools—could be a set of matching stools.

  Sophie smiled. The ideas started coming, one after another.

  Maybe she would make a few more things, after all. Just a few more.

  Think Small

  For the rest of the week Sophie made all kinds of teeny-tiny furniture.

  So she didn’t have a mouse house to put them in. It was still a fun way to use her imagination!

  On Tuesday, Sophie stopped in at Mrs. Weaver’s shop, In Stitches. Mrs. Weaver was the town seamstress. Sophie told her about her new hobby making tiny furniture.

  “Well, you’re welcome to take anything you like from my fabric scraps,” Mrs. Weaver said kindly.

  Sophie clapped her hands. “Thank you! That would be perfect!” she replied.

  Sophie didn’t need big pieces. Tiny sofas and pillows could be made from tiny pieces of fabric.

  Sophie picked up a piece of ribbon. It was the perfect size for a tiny tablecloth.

  Mrs. Weaver also gave Sophie six empty thread spools for the stools she had in mind. Then she pulled some buttons from her sewing box.

  “Can you use these?” Mrs. Weaver asked.

  Sophie studied them. “Yes!” she replied. They looked like miniature dishes.

  On Wednesday, Sophie stopped in at the General Store.

  She picked up a small wooden soap dish. “A bed!” she exclaimed. All it needed was a handkerchief for a bedspread and some tiny pillows.

  In the food aisle Sophie stopped in front of the canned goods. The can of creamed corn had such a colorful label. If she peeled it off, could it be wall art?

  Hmm, maybe too big, Sophie decided. But it gave her another idea. Postage stamps!

  On Thursday, Sophie made a special trip to the post office. She picked out three different postage stamps with pretty designs. They really were tiny works of art!

  After school on Friday, Sophie worked on putting all her tiny creations together. When she was done, she had made enough furniture for a miniature dining room . . .

  . . . and a miniature bedroom.

  “Wow!” cried Winston, peeking into Sophie’s room. “You made all of that?”

  Sophie smiled and nodded. She felt very proud of her work.

  “I can’t wait to see it all in Ellie’s miniature house!” Sophie said.

  Wait. What? Sophie thought.

  She was suddenly surprised by her own words. But it was true. She’d had so much fun making the furniture. She had almost forgotten that she didn’t have a mouse house to put it in.

  Sophie sighed.

  The truth was, it seemed like Ellie’s squirrel house was where the furniture was meant to be.

  Squirrel Housewarming

  “Sophie!” Ellie called down from her family’s tree house. “Come on up!”

  A ladder led up to Ellie’s front door. Sophie scrambled up, carrying a box under one arm.

  This was only Sophie’s second time inside Ellie’s tree house. And at the birthday party, she hadn’t really looked around. Now Sophie saw that the home had four floors, all connected by ladders. Ellie led Sophie up to her room on the top floor. Instead of a bed, Ellie had a hammock. From her window, she had a beautiful view of the forest below.

  And there, on Ellie’s rug, was the squirrel house.

  It was just as perfect as Sophie remembered. But it was still empty. Ellie’s squirrel dolls lay on the floor, since there were no chairs or beds for them.

  Sophie held out the box in her hands. “I brought you something,” she told Ellie. “Open it!”

  Ellie looked surprised. She lifted the lid and gasped.

  Inside were all of the miniature items Sophie had made.

  “What is all this?” Ellie asked in awe. Very gently, she started taking the furniture out of the box, piece by piece. “These are amazing. Where did they come from?”

  Sophie smiled. “I made them!” she said.

  Ellie’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Sophie!” she said. “When I asked for your help to make a few things, I didn’t mean you had to do all this! All by yourself?” She studied the postage-stamp art that Sophie had made teeny-tiny frames for. “You must have spent so much time on this!”

  Sophie nodded. “I did. But it was fun,” she told Ellie. “And now I can’t wait to see how they look in your house!”

&n
bsp; Together, Sophie and Ellie arranged all the items. Then they played with the squirrel dolls in the newly furnished rooms. The bed was just the right size for a squirrel to nap on. And there were enough stools for each member of the family at dinnertime.

  Sophie and Ellie played with the squirrel house all afternoon.

  Then it was time for Sophie to go. But first, there was something she wanted to say.

  “Ellie,” she said, “you know how I saw this house at Handy’s Hardware? I . . . well . . . I really wanted it for myself.”

  “You did?” Ellie said.

  Sophie nodded. “So when you got it, I felt jealous. It’s another reason I got so mad at you on Monday.” She looked sheepishly at her feet. “I’m sorry. Again.”

  This one felt like a more honest apology.

  “Oh, that’s okay Sophie,” Ellie replied gently. “Gosh. Now I wish Mr. Handy had made two of them, so you could have one too.”

  Sophie laughed. “That would be so great!”

  Ellie invited Sophie to come over and play with the squirrel house any time she wanted. Sophie agreed she would.

  “Next time I’ll show you how I made the dresser,” Sophie said. “Maybe we can make one for the other bedroom.”

  Sophie skipped home happily, thinking about more tiny furniture ideas.

  When she got there, she told her parents about her afternoon. “We played with Ellie’s squirrel house the whole time. I made her a bunch of furniture for it.”

  Mrs. Mouse put an arm around Sophie’s shoulder. “Wow, I’m very impressed,” she said. “I know how much you wanted that house. It was so nice of you to help Ellie decorate it.”

  Mr. Mouse was sketching in his design notebook. He was an architect, so he often had a pencil in his hand—and usually one tucked behind his ear, too. He stopped sketching and looked up at Sophie. “I agree,” he said. “I’m proud of you, Sophie. I just hope you’re ready to make some more tiny house furniture.”

  Sophie looked confused. “What for, Dad?”

  Mr. and Mrs. Mouse smiled mischievously. “For this!” Mr. Mouse replied. He flipped his sketchbook around.

  There on the page was a design for a beautiful Victorian-style dollhouse. It looked . . . like a mouse house!

  “What do you say we build this together?” Mr. Mouse said.

  Sophie gasped. “Really?” she cried.

  Mr. Mouse nodded. “I do know a little something about building.”

  Sophie jumped up and down gleefully. “And I know a little something about tiny furniture!”

  She couldn’t wait to get started.

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  “Ready or not, here I come!” Sophie shouted.

  She opened her eyes and looked around. Owen and Hattie were gone. The three friends were playing hide-and-seek by Owen’s house. Sophie was the seeker.

  She listened for a rustle of leaves or a snap of a twig. She sniffed the air. Really, though, she didn’t need any clues. There were only two good hiding places in Owen’s yard.

  First, Sophie checked inside the hollow log. It was a tight squeeze for Hattie or herself, but Owen fit easily. Sophie peered inside. “Found you!” she cried.

  Owen wriggled out. “Aww,” he moaned. “That was quick.”

  Next Sophie scurried over to a baby fir tree. Hattie was pretty well camouflaged by the needles. But Sophie could see her shoes.

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Poppy Green can talk to animals! Unfortunately, they never talk back to her. So she started writing in order to imagine what they might say and do when humans aren’t watching. Poppy lives on the edge of the woods in Connecticut, where her backyard is often a playground for all kinds of wildlife: birds, rabbits, squirrels, voles, skunks, deer, and the occasional wild turkey.

  Jennifer A. Bell is an illustrator whose work can be found on greeting cards, in magazines, and in more than a dozen children’s books. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, son, and cranky cat.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • www.SimonandSchuster.com • First Little Simon hardcover edition August 2017 • Copyright © 2017 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Series designed by Laura Roode. Book designed by Hannah Frece. The text of this book was set in Usherwood.

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title from the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4814-9436-6 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-9435-9 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-9437-3 (eBook)