''Ralph S. Mouse'' is the third in a children's novel

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

that was written by

Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first b ...

. It features Ralph, a mouse with the ability to speak, but only with certain people, who tend to be loners. It was first published in 1982, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. A film adaptation was broadcast in the

ABC Weekend Special ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to b ...

series in 1991.

Plot summary

Ralph has befriended a young boy named Ryan, the son of the inn's new housekeeper. Ryan has given Ralph the full name of "Ralph S. Mouse", the middle initial standing for "Smart". Meanwhile, Ralph becomes agitated at his family, because he doesn't want them riding his motorcycle. Worried that their droppings on the floor will result in anti-mouse retaliation by the hotel staff, he asks Ryan to take him to school, where he plans to hide and live out the rest of his life. Ralph is discovered by Ryan's classmates, who adopt him as a class pet, and decide to see how smart he is by building a maze for him to run through. All this time, Ryan is having difficulty with an aggressive boy named Brad from his class, who accidentally breaks Ralph's motorcycle, and Ralph blames Ryan and runs away to hide in the school. However, Ralph also confronts Brad for breaking his motorcycle, and Brad, realizing that Ralph can talk, offers to set things right for both him and Ryan. Ryan and Brad discover that they have much in common, and become friends. Ryan reclaims Ralph, and brings him home on the school bus on the day that his new friend comes with him to visit at the inn. Brad also atones for his destruction of Ralph's treasured motorcycle by giving him a model "Laser XL7" sports car. Ralph discovers that he can't move the car by making the same noise as his motorcycle; he has to go "vroom-vroom" instead. Ralph further discovers that he can safely give his younger relatives rides in the car without worrying that they will be irresponsible with it (but only Ralph can drive the car). Brad's father meets Ryan's mother and they get married six months later, thus Ryan and Brad are now stepbrothers.

Series

* ''

The Mouse and the Motorcycle ''The Mouse and the Motorcycle'' is a children's novel written by Beverly Cleary, illustrated by Louis Darling and published in 1965. It is the first in a trilogy featuring Ralph S. Mouse, a house mouse who can speak to humans (though typically ...

'' (1965) * ''

Runaway Ralph ''Runaway Ralph'' is the second in a children's novel trilogy that was written by Beverly Cleary. First published in 1970, it is the last book by Cleary that Louis Darling illustrated before his death. The book features the titular character, R ...

'' (1970) * ''Ralph S. Mouse'' (1982)

Film adaptation

Churchill Films produced an adaptation of ''Ralph S. Mouse'' in 1990, directed by Thomas G. Smith, and animation directed by John Clark Matthews, starring

Robert Oliveri Robert Dane Oliveri (born April 28, 1978) is an American former child actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Nick Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'', for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award and a Sa ...

as Ryan. It aired as part of the

in 1991.

References

1982 American novels 1982 children's books ABC Weekend Special Golden Kite Award-winning works American novels adapted into films Children's books adapted into films English-language novels Books about mice and rats Novels by Beverly Cleary Books illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky William Morrow and Company books {{1980s-child-novel-stub