Book: The Mouse and the Motorcycle (Cleary) Level O
Quick summary: Ralph, a mouse who lives in a hotel with his family, meets a boy named Keith. Keith has come
to stay at the hotel and has brought along his mini play motorcycle. Ralph has many adventures with the
motorcycle and becomes great friends with Keith. Ralph even saves Keith from a serious illness when he locates
a much needed Aspirin.
Possible Reading Assignments: 1: p1-18
2: p19-34
3: p34-60
7: p120-141
8: p142-end
Summary
Ch. 1
Pgs. 11-18
Ch. 2
Pgs. 19-27
Ch. 3
Pgs. 28-34
Ch.4
Pgs. 35-48
Ch. 5
Pgs. 48-60
Ch. 6
Pgs. 61-73
4: p61-85
5: p85-105
Difficult Vocabulary
Keith, his mother and father have just arrived in
California from Ohio. They have been traveling
for 5 days on their three week trip across the
U.S. Keith luckily gets his own room where he
immediately begins to play with his toy cars and
motorcycle.
Ralph is watching from the small mouse hole in
the room. He is excited when he sees an apple
core that could be his lunch, but is disappointed
when he sees Keith’s mom drop an apple in the
waste basket. What is even more exciting to
Ralph is the row of cars that Keith left. Ralph
leaves the safety of the mouse hole and climbs up
to the bike. Just as he sits on it, the phone rings
and scares poor Ralph right off the table and
into the garbage can, motorcycle and all.
Ralph is stuck in the waste basket. He imagines
his life ending when he is discovered by the maid.
Ralph hides underneath the apple core and falls
asleep.
Keith discovers Ralph in the garbage can and
begins talking to him. He tells Ralph that in
order to get the motorcycle to go, he must make
a “pb-pb-b-b-b” noise. Ralph pleasantly rides
around on the motorcycle while Keith falls asleep.
croquet (12)
antimacassar (14)
Ralph spends the evening roaming through the
undiscovered hotel. He has a run-in with a dog,
but hides long enough not to get noticed. Ralph is
surprised when Matt, the bellboy, sees him and
begins talking. Matt lets Ralph back into the
room by cracking the door, but just as he does
so, Keith’s mother sees Ralph and screams. Keith
quickly lets Ralph crawl up his arm and hide under
his sleeve. Keith convinces his mother that she
mistook the motorcycle for a mouse.
Ralph and Keith get to know each other by
talking. Keith tells Ralph that he will leave the
motorcycle under the bed for Ralph if he
promises to always take care of the motorcycle.
jauntily (48)
gesture (55)
ridiculous (60)
chromium (23)
momentum (26)
aching (29)
echoing (31)
predicament (33)
incinerator (34)
obviously (37)
cautiously (38)
indignant (40)
generous (61)
nuisance (62)
anxious (69)
6: p106-119
Purpose for
reading/Comp. Strategy
Prediction: the author
gives several
foreshadowing clues in
this chapter about people
in the hotel being
watched.
Characterization: in this
chapter you learn
specific things about
Ralph’s character, as well
as his mother’s
character.
Prediction: what will
happen to Ralph and the
motorcycle?
Imagery: could you
picture Ralph hiding in
the garbage behind the
apple core? Could you
see him cruising on the
motorcycle making the
noise?
Cause and effect: Matt
and Keith know about the
mice. Keith’s mom thinks
she saw one. How will
this knowledge affect
Ralph and his family?
Prediction: what will
happen with the vacuum
and Ralph as he hides
under the bed?
Ch. 7
Pgs. 74-85
Ch. 8
Pgs. 86-94
Ch. 9
Pgs. 95-105
Ralph agrees. He also asks if Keith could bring
him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Keith
gets one, right away. Ralph eats the PB and J for
breakfast and then immediately checks under the
bed for the motorcycle. Before he can disappear
into his mouse hole, the maid is in the room
prepping to vacuum.
Ralph is hiding under the bed as the maid begins
to vacuum. She is busy singing in the mirror to
herself and she doesn’t notice that the
attachment to the vacuum has fallen off under
the bed. The suction is too strong for Ralph to
resist so he decides to test the motorcycles
strength. Right as he guns the motorcycle, the
maid unplugs the vacuum. Ralph takes off and
lands in a large hamper full of bedding. A dog
comes into the room and smells Ralph. Luckily,
the dog is scurried away by his owner. Ralph
feels himself being moved into the laundry area
of the hotel. He begins to chew himself out of
the mess but is unable to bring the motorcycle
with him.
Keith brought Ralph’s mouse family a cookie for
“room service.” They had so much food that
Ralph’s family decides it is time for a family
reunion. Ralph’s relatives chat about their views
on him riding around on a motorcycle. All the
while, Ralph is sick to his stomach, knowing that
he has lost the motorcycle. Keith returns from
his days activities with a gift for Ralph: a
motorcycle helmet made of a ping pong ball and
rubber band. Ralph has to explain the problem of
the lost motorcycle to Keith. Keith is very
disappointed with Ralph and says that he should
have known Ralph wasn’t old enough to be trusted
with his favorite motorcycle.
Ralph is depressed about the loss of the
motorcycle and the loss of a friend. H is
pleasantly surprised when Keith is still kind to
him in the morning. When Ralph returns to the
mouse hole to tell them that breakfast is on the
way, he is surprised to see his whole family in a
panic. His family members overheard the
manager of the hotel talking about the mouse
eaten sheets. The whole crew is on the lookout
for mice. Ralph comes up with the idea to lie low
and rely on Keith for food. The family agrees,
but they are all worried about what they could do
for Keith in return. Ralph tells them that he will
take care of it and come up with a successful
plan.
doubt (76)
oblivious (77)
scarcely (82)
Questioning: what will
Keith’s reaction be when
he discovers that Ralph
lost the motorcycle?
How might Keith feel?
How might Ralph feel?
Imagery: imagine the
scene of Ralph being
sucked under the bed.
genuinely (89)
pilfering (89)
Connection: think of a
time when someone was
disappointed in you. How
did you feel? Does that
feeling help you
understand the book
better?
eaves (96)
envied (96)
occurred (97)
patient (99)
pandemonium (99)
ventured (101)
Prediction: what could
Ralph do for Keith to
repay him for his
kindness?
Ch.10
Pgs. 106-119
Keith returns from a day of hiking but isn’t
acting like himself. It turns out he is very ill.
Keith has a brought only a few peanuts to share
with Ralph’s family but that won’t be enough to
sustain them. Ralph’s family is worried about
Keith’s health, as well as him their only food
source. He needs an Aspirin and Ralph is
determined to get one.
Ch. 11
Ralph goes to tell his family about his plan to
Pgs. 120retrieve an Aspirin for Keith. We find out that
130
Ralph’s father died from carrying an Aspirin in
his mouth. His mother and family are obviously
concerned about Ralph and his plan. Throughout
the chapter, we hear several horror stories
about past relatives who have lost their lives
wandering through the hotel. Ralph gets caught
underneath a cup by two teachers staying at the
hotel. Luckily, the teachers decide to let Ralph
go. It just so happens that they drop him
outside their window.
Ch. 12
Ralph finds his way back into the hotel before he
Pgs. 131-141 becomes an owl’s dinner. Luckily, he happens to
find an aspirin. Ralph struggles to get the aspirin
up the stairs to Keith. He decides to ask Keith
to borrow his ambulance so that he can deliver
the medicine. Even with the car, the delivery is
not smooth sailing. Ralph almost gets caught by a
man and his dog. Soon, Ralph gets to Keith with
the aspirin and leaves it on the bed stand.
Ch. 13
After the success of the evening, the whole
Pgs. 142family agrees that Ralph is growing up. Keith is
158
feeling much better after taking the aspirin and
orders a breakfast of bacon, toast and jelly for
the mice. Matt, the bellboy, returns Keith’s
ambulance and then surprises everyone by pulling
the motorcycle out of his pocket. He admits that
he is aware of the mice, but promises not to tell
anyone. Keith asks Ralph to return to Ohio with
him. Even with the thoughts of riding the
motorcycle every day Ralph declines. Keith
decides to leave the motorcycle for Ralph and
they decide to make a garage for it downstairs
under the television set. They part as friends
promising to remember each other.
Other Activities/Ideas:
scheme (106)
listlessly (108)
pilfering (111)
anxiously (114)
peculiar (115)
Prediction/Questioning:
what difficulties might
Ralph encounter on his
search for an Aspirin?
Will he find one?
staunchly (121)
roused (126)
Wichita (127)
Summary: what important
details do we need to
know about this chapter?
Can you talk about them
in order of occurrence?
tendrils (132)
precious (134)
ancestor (134)
crucial (137)
indignantly (140)
Characterization: what
do you know about Ralph’s
character because of the
way he treats Keith?
ache (145)
curious (146)
Message/Theme: what
main idea or themes did
we get from reading this
chapter and book?