by Poppy Green
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Rain, Rain, Go Away
Chapter 2: The Project
Chapter 3: Shipshape
Chapter 4: Whatever Floats Your Boat
Chapter 5: In Search of Butterfly Brook
Chapter 6: Trading in a Wish
Chapter 7: Bad Surprise, Good Surprise
Chapter 8: When It Rains, It Pours
Chapter 9: Sophie’s Plan
‘The Mouse House’ Excerpt
About Poppy Green and Jennifer A. Bell
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Sophie Mouse ran to the window. She glanced up at the sky. The clouds looked darker than the last time she’d checked. Sophie stretched her hand outside. No raindrops.
“It’s not raining yet!” Sophie cried, running back into the kitchen. Her whiskers were tingling. She could tell the rain was coming. But maybe there was just enough time for their picnic.
It was Sunday morning. In the Mouse family’s house at the base of the oak tree, Mrs. Mouse had made her famous vanilla-bean scones. As they cooled, the sweet scent of the vanilla filled the kitchen.
Mr. Mouse flipped huckleberry pancakes on the griddle. Sizzle!
Sophie and her little brother, Winston, peeked into the oven. They had worked together to make a banana-dandelion bread. It was rising! Soon it would be done!
Sophie got the picnic basket ready. Then she ran upstairs to the linen closet to get the picnic blanket. She had the perfect spot in mind: on the bank of the stream near the playground. Afterward, she could scurry over to Hattie’s house to say hello!
Lily Mouse tucked the scones into the basket. George Mouse added the pancakes.
Soon the banana-dandelion bread was done and packed, along with jams and jars of mint tea.
“Okay! Let’s go!” Sophie exclaimed.
She picked up the basket. Winston grabbed the blanket. And the Mouse family stepped outside.
Plip! Plop! Plip!
Sophie felt three big raindrops—one on her ear, one on her shoulder, and one on the tip of her nose.
“Oh no!” Winston moaned.
The four mice gazed upward, holding their palms out.
Plip! Plop! Plip! Plippity-plippity, plop-plop-plop . . .
The rain was picking up. Winston threw the blanket over the basket to protect it.
“I hate to say it,” said Mr. Mouse, “but I think we’d better make it an indoor picnic.”
“Or,” Sophie said, “it could be fun to have a picnic in the rain. . . .”
She smiled hophefully. But no one else seemed excited about the idea.
So back inside they went. In the living room, they pushed back the furniture and spread the blanket on the floor.
The yummy food cheered Sophie up. But now and then, she gazed out the window at the gray mist.
Mr. Mouse patted her on the back. “I know it’s disappointing, Sophie,” he said. “But we could really use the rain. We could use a lot more rain. It’s been very dry this season.”
Sophie’s shoulders drooped. She took another bite of scone. She knew her dad was right, but she still couldn’t help wishing the rain away.
The Project
The next morning, a ray of sunlight fell across Sophie’s face.
She opened her eyes and squinted toward the window.
It figures, thought Sophie. On a school day it’s sunny out.
It had drizzled all Sunday afternoon. Not enough rain to make puddles to play in. Just enough rain to ruin their picnic.
Sophie had spent the day painting.
As she got dressed for school, Sophie studied the three paintings drying on her easels. They were views out of different windows in their house.
Sophie laughed. She had used up most of her gray paint!
After breakfast, Sophie and Winston walked together to Silverlake Elementary. Mrs. Wise opened the door and called out, “Good morning, everyone!” just as Sophie and Winston arrived.
They went in behind Hattie Frog, her sister Lydie, and Ellie the squirrel. They all took their seats.
Ben and James, the rabbit brothers, arrived a few moments later. Malcolm the mole and Willy the toad walked in next. And Zoe the bluebird and Piper the hummingbird flew in too. Finally Owen Snake arrived.
“Good! Everyone is here!” said Mrs. Wise. “Because I want all of you to hear about the unit we are starting today on . . . water.”
Ugh! thought Sophie. Hadn’t they had enough water this weekend?
Mrs. Wise went on. She explained they’d be studying the different phases of water, like ice and steam. They would learn about the water cycle. They would discuss how important water is to life.
“But first, we’ll be exploring why things sink or float in water,” Mrs. Wise said. “We’ll even do some experiments.”
Sophie perked up. Experiments? That sounded fun!
“There is also a unit project,” Mrs. Wise said. “Each of you will be building a model boat.”
Sophie smiled. She heard excited whispers all around the classroom. She also noticed Winston bouncing with glee in the front row. Sophie giggled. This project was perfect for him.
Mrs. Wise said she’d cover information in class that would help them design a proper boat. It would be up to them to work on building the boats at home. Then, in two weeks, they’d go over to the nearby pond to test them out!
Water had just gotten a whole lot more fun!
Shipshape
Winston hadn’t stopped talking about boat ideas since they’d left school.
“I wonder what’s the best material to use,” he was saying as he and Sophie walked home. “Wood, I guess. But there are so many different kinds. There’s oak and ash and cedar and cypress and elm and pine and fir and—”
“Winston!” Sophie interrupted with a laugh. “You have two whole weeks to figure it out.”
Winston hopped with excitement. “I know! But I want to start designing my boat right away!” He waved his arms as if drawing his blueprints in the air. “It’s not going to be a model boat. I want to build a real one. One that could carry me!”
Sophie laughed again. “Those are big plans for a little mouse,” she said.
But then Sophie remembered the amazing fort Winston had once built in the woods. He was great at building things, just like their dad, who was an architect.
While Winston went on about his big plans, Sophie was lost in thought about her smaller plans. She wanted to make a tiny boat. Tiny but tough.
What floats naturally? Sophie asked herself. Leaves float sometimes. Lily pads float. But those don’t seem very sturdy. Twigs? Hattie and Owen made me that raft out of twigs.
Sophie and Winston rounded a bend. The big oak tree came into view, their house nestled between the roots. Sophie followed Winston up the front walk, crunching an acorn cap under her foot.
Sophie stopped and looked down. She picked up an acorn cap and studied it.
Acorn caps float, thought Sophie. Don’t they?
Sophie picked up a few more acorn caps. She carried them inside. She ran to the bathroom and filled the tub with water.
Then Sophie placed the acorn caps pointy-side-down on the water’s surface.
All three of them floated—like three tiny boats. Sophie added some more water to test their stability. They rocked with the waves of water, but did not sink!
Sophie smiled. She tapped her chin as she thought.
How could she build a boat that floated like an acorn cap?
Whatever Floats Your Boat
The next morning Mrs. Wise took the class down to the pond.
“This is where we will test our boats next week,” she told them. “But today, we will learn more about why some objects float.” She
tossed a blade of grass into the pond. It floated on the water’s surface. “And why other objects sink,” she added. She picked up a stone and tossed it in. Plunk! It sank.
“The clay soil here at this pond is perfect for our experiments,” Mrs. Wise explained. “Watch!”
She scooped up a hunk of clay. “It’s crumbly since it’s been so dry. But just add a little water to it.”
Mrs. Wise wet the soil with pond water. Then she rolled it into a ball. She placed it on the surface of the water. It sank right away.
Then Mrs. Wise scooped up more clay. She wet it and squished it into a pancake. She pinched up the sides to make a bowl shape. She flattened the bottom. Now it sort of looked like a boat.
“Will this sink?” Mrs. Wise asked the class. “Or float?”
Winston raised his hand to answer. “Float!” he said.
“Yes! Float!” Hattie echoed.
Most of the students agreed. Only James and Piper thought it would sink.
Mrs. Wise placed the boat on the water and let go. It was floating!
James and Piper looked confused. “But it’s still made of clay,” James said. “The clay ball sank. So why not this?”
“Great question,” said Mrs. Wise.
She explained how important the shape of an object was to its buoyancy—or ability to float. “Any object placed in the pond pushes some water out of the way. But the water also pushes back. It’s that force that holds the object up in the water.”
Mrs. Wise picked up the clay boat.
“This boat pushes a lot of water out of the way,” she went on. “The ball pushed much less water out of the way.”
Sophie thought she understood. “So an object that pushes more water out of the way has more force holding it up?” Sophie said.
Mrs. Wise beamed. “That’s correct!” she exclaimed.
The students spent the morning making different shapes out of the clay. Then they tried to float them in the pond.
Some worked very well.
Others didn’t float at all.
Sophie sculpted some clay into the shape of an acorn cap. When she was ready to test it, she laid it gently atop the water. It floated!
But then Willy stepped into the water, eager to test his own clay boat. He didn’t see Sophie’s. His foot came down right on top of it.
Sophie’s boat was now sunk and smushed.
“Oops,” said Willy sheepishly. “Sorry, Sophie.”
“That’s okay,” Sophie said. She fished her clay blob out of the water. She studied the drippy mess. Guess that’s why they don’t make real boats out of clay, she thought.
In Search of Butterfly Brook
Within a couple of days, Winston had a boat blueprint drawn up. He was ready to start building. Now he needed to get his materials.
In school Mrs. Wise had explained why wood was a good choice. “Most woods are less dense than water,” she had said. “So they tend to float.”
Winston was way ahead of that. At dinner each night, he peppered Mr. Mouse with questions about different woods.
“Ash is strong for its weight,” Mr. Mouse had said. “And cedar doesn’t rot easily.”
After days of thinking it over, Winston had made a decision. At breakfast on Saturday morning, he suddenly called out: “Fir!”
Sophie looked at him, confused. “Huh?” she said.
“Douglas fir!” Winston replied. “That’s the wood for my boat. It’s strong, it bends without breaking, and it won’t rot easily. What do you think, Sophie?”
Sophie smiled. “Sounds good to me, Winston,” she said.
“There are lots of fir trees by Butterfly Brook,” Mr. Mouse told them. “That might be a good place to look.”
Butterfly Brook! Yes! thought Sophie. An excuse to go to one of her favorite places. It was home to so many different types of butterflies. Sophie remembered the evergreen trees growing on both sides of the brook. Now she knew what kind they were.
Sophie grabbed her satchel. She packed two water canteens—one for her and one for Winston. It had been hot and dry all week long. They needed to be prepared!
Then Sophie and Winston set off. Instead of heading toward town, they took a path going the opposite way through deeper woods.
The path twisted this way and that, around boulders and through brambles. They scrambled over lots of fallen branches and climbed up a rise.
“I’m hot,” Winston said. “Can we take a water break?”
It really was hot out. Sophie’s whiskers were wilting and water sounded good to her, too. They stopped for a minute to gulp down some water. Then they kept going.
“The brook is just up ahead,” Sophie said to Winston.
They came around a bunch of ferns. Sophie stopped in her tracks. Winston stopped next to her.
Sophie looked around, confused. “That’s weird,” she said. “I thought Butterfly Brook would be right here.”
There was a small ravine where the brook should have been. Sophie went up to the edge and looked down into it. There were some puddles at the bottom. But that was it.
“Wait,” Sophie said. “This is the brook.”
“But . . . where’s the rest of the water?” Winston asked.
Sophie gasped. “It must have dried up!”
Trading In a Wish
Staring at the dried-up brook, Sophie remembered the crumbly clay soil at the pond. She remembered her dad saying they really needed more rain.
That was the day it rained and I wished it would stop, Sophie thought. It hasn’t rained since!
Now Sophie felt badly about her wish.
This wasn’t good. Not good at all.
Suddenly, high overhead, they heard a sharp CRACK! Sophie and Winston looked up.
Then came CR-R-R-R-ACK!
A branch had snapped. It was falling down—fast!
Sophie grabbed Winston’s arm. She pulled him to one side.
Fwomp! The large fir branch hit the ground where Winston had been standing.
Winston looked up at Sophie. “Wow. Thanks!” he said.
“No problem,” Sophie replied. “That was close.”
Sophie looked around, noticing more branches on the ground. “The trees are so dry,” Sophie said. “That must be why they’re dropping branches.”
It was easy enough to find two large pieces of fir to take with them. Sophie and Winston each dragged a big branch home. It would be enough wood for both of their boats.
That evening, as they sat down to dinner, Sophie told Mr. and Mrs. Mouse what they had seen.
Mrs. Mouse nodded grimly. “I’ve never seen Pine Needle Grove so desperate for rain,” she said. “The well near the bakery has dried up. I need to walk halfway to Goldmoss Pond to get water. And that well is low too.”
Mr. Mouse also looked concerned. “I ran into Malcolm Mole’s parents the other day,” he said. “They’re farmers, you know. They say the early lettuce and peas aren’t growing very well.”
Mrs. Mouse sighed. “And if plants don’t get enough water now, there may not be many berries in the autumn. Then there may not be enough to can for the winter.”
Before she started eating, Sophie made a silent wish for rain. She hoped it would cancel out the wish she’d made the week before.
All week long, Sophie and Winston worked on their projects after school. Thursday was the big day! They would bring in their boats and take another field trip to the pond.
Winston was going ahead with his plan to build a full-size boat. He spent every spare minute in the backyard. There, he had set up a work area. Mr. Mouse was letting him borrow some tools. Winston was even learning to bend wood using steam!
Sophie still wasn’t sure how to build her acorn-cap boat.
She tried carving a block of fir into the right shape. On Monday, she sat whittling the wood for hours. In the end, she couldn’t get the balance right. It kept tipping, filling with water, and sinking.
On Tuesday, she tried nailing wood pieces into an acorn-cap
shape.
But there were too many seams and corners, even after sanding everything down.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sophie sat staring at the three acorn caps that had inspired her. She had to come up with something!
What else can I use? Sophie asked herself. What is shaped like an acorn cap? What’s smooth like an acorn cap? What weighs about the same as an acorn cap?
Sophie jumped up. “An acorn cap!” she cried out loud. “I can build my boat out of an actual acorn cap!”
Sophie couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it sooner!
Bad Surprise, Good Surprise
Sophie was a dozen steps ahead of Winston on the path to school. She stopped and waited for him for the millionth time.
Winston was pulling a wagon. Balanced on top was his finished boat.
Sophie had to admit: it was beautiful.
The boat had a cloth sail, a rudder for steering, and a built-in seat for the captain. Winston had even found time to paint it! Sophie had made a huge batch of poppy-red paint for him.
She couldn’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces when they saw Winston’s full-size boat!
Sophie also wanted to show off her own. She was proud of her acorn-cap boat. It was so small, especially compared to Winston’s. But it was strong and sturdy. Sophie had added a leaf sail and painted it with all sorts of bright colors and designs.