Magic Mouse

Self belief (Goals & Dreams)

Magic Mouse

David Machin

All the mice scatter when they hear the low growl of the cat. Hiding behind a pile of toys, you hope that she will pass you by.

As the tiniest mouse in the family, you are also the slowest.

The other mice have all run to safety and you are left alone, listening to the soft footsteps of the hungry cat getting closer and closer...

2

You close your eyes and wish that you were a magician. A magician could just disappear, and never need to worry about being eaten by a hungry cat!

As she sniffs around the pile of toys you wish harder and harder that there was a magic trick that could scare the cat away and allow you to escape.

The other mice are squeaking, “Run away, run away!� But they can do nothing to help.

Suddenly you have an idea!

3

You may be a mouse, but the cat does not know that. A toy dog lies nearby, you wait until the cat’s nose is just inches away and fling the toy towards her with all your might.

She jumps backwards through the air, smashing into a pile of building blocks with a clatter and a screech. She hisses and scratches at the toy dog.

You just disappear.

Well, actually you run like crazy in the other direction while the cat is not looking, but the cat thinks you disappeared.

4

5

Your family are very happy to see you. “We were so scared,” Mother Mouse says as she nuzzles you.

“I was too,” you reply with a shiver. “But I know what I would like to be now.” You announce your plan to the family.

“What do you mean?” Father Mouse asks. “You are a mouse, that is what you will always be.”

You shake your head and wiggle your whiskers. “No father, I will be a magician!”

The whole family laughs. It is a little sad that they don’t believe you can be a magician.

“I can be a magician.” You say stubbornly. “Just wait and see, one day I will be the greatest mouse magician ever!”

6

Sister Mouse giggles.

“You mean the only mouse magician ever.”

You imagine all tricks that you could do, and practice every day.

At first all of the other mice can easily figure out the tricks. “It’s under your foot!” One of the mice yell when you make a pebble disappear.

“It’s a different cup!” Another mouse hollers. “It was cheese the whole time!”

A mouse in the audience insists.

But the more you practice the better you get.

7

Soon, none of the other mice can figure out your tricks.

You even make yourself disappear, leaving all of the mice searching everywhere. “Here I am!” You shout, popping out from behind them and making everyone jump.

One night you are showing your latest trick, when Father Mouse walks in.

“What are you doing?” He asks with a frown. You show him how you can make a tiny picture look like a huge shadow on the wall.

“Nice trick.” Father Mouse says. “But you need to remember that you are a mouse, not a magician.”

You feel very disappointed as Father Mouse shakes his head and walks away.

8

This is your dream and you have worked very hard planning out tricks and practicing them every day.

If only Father Mouse and the rest of the family would understand how important it is to you to be a magician.

9

“One day.” You say to Sister Mouse. “I will be the best mouse magician ever.”

She giggles and pokes you lightly in the arm.

“You will be the only mouse magician.”

10

Every day you continue to practice your tricks. If you have trouble with one, you stop and think about it, figure it out, and practice until it is perfect. Soon you are putting on amazing shows for everyone. Everyone except Father Mouse.

It is Sister Mouse’s birthday party and you are performing to a room full of noisy mice. The audience is cheering and clapping so loud that no one notices the cat creeping into the room. The hungry cat sees the large crowd of young mice and her tummy starts to rumble!

With a loud squeak you try to warn your audience. But everyone thinks that it is part of the show, and they just laugh and cheer. The cat creeps closer. “Run!” You cry as you point to the cat. “It’s is a real cat!” But they only clap louder and wait eagerly for the trick.

11

At that moment the cat leaps right into the middle of their group!

With a loud meow the cat snaps at the mice who squeak and run in all directions. You have to do something to save your friends!

To buy them some time to get to safety, you take one of your pictures and make it cast a huge shadow in the shape of a dog on the wall.

The cat sees the shadow and all of the fur on her back stands on end. She growls and runs back behind a chair. The other mice make it to safety, much to your relief.

12

You start to run to safety too, but you notice that Father Mouse is trapped between the cat and the wall! He must have been there the whole time, watching the show. There is no way he can run past the cat without being caught.

The cat soon notices that the shadow is not moving or barking.

In fact, it is not a dog at all. She is quite upset about losing an easy meal to a simple trick.

She turns her hungry eyes towards you both and crouches down, ready to pounce.

13

Her tail swishes from side to side as she gets ready to strike. “I know what to do!� you cry, and pull out the magic mirrors that you have been practicing with. Holding them just right it makes it seem as if there are a hundred mice hanging in the air around her head.

The cat is very hungry so when 14

she sees all of the mice she swipes

at them. She does not want to miss her chance again and spins around in all directions. She gets dizzier and dizzier until she just can’t see straight at all.

Father Mouse grabs you by the hand and you run to safety.

“I understand now why you wanted to be a magician.”

Father Mouse says as he hugs you. “You were right to stick to your dream, a mouse can be a magician.”

Sister Mouse giggles and shakes her head.

“No Father Mouse, not just a magician, the best Mouse Magician in the world!”

THE END

15

A very different ending...

In this story, you had a dream to be the world’s first Mouse Magician. It was a great dream and you worked really hard to make it happen. You even managed to keep going when others said you were ‘just a mouse’ and didn’t believe you could succeed.

You certainly proved them wrong!

But, what might have happened if you had given up? What if you decided it was too much work, or if you believed that everyone else was right and you were just not good enough to be a Mouse Magician?

You would have had no magic tricks to scare the cat away from Sister Mouse’s party.

16

Well, that would have been a very different story with a very sad ending.

And a very full cat!

Your dreams are really important and they can come true if you work hard and believe in them.

17

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W NE Magic Mouse is now available in print!

Read Magic Mouse plus 3 other popular stories Life skills for kids

FREE audio files & resources with this book

Your child will learn about Teamwork, Goal Setting, Planning for the Future, Self Development and other important skills while enjoying these entertaining stories.

David Machin (author of The Star Dragon) david@humanbean.com humanbean.com

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Fully illustrated. 85pp Teacher/Parents notes inc.

Reading age: 5-10

This book, like all HumanBean stories, has been written with a specific purpose in mind - to introduce your child to the attitudes and behaviors which contribute to a successful and fulfilling life. These success principles have been available to adults in their work and business lives for many years. They are proven techniques for improving your life. But, until now, children have been excluded from this learning.

This story has been written to bring these attitudes and behaviors to children, aged 5-10, through exciting and entertaining stories, where the reader is the hero.

At HumanBean we feel that if young children can start to understand these principles and behaviors at an early age, then they are more likely to adopt them as they grow up. With strong foundations, they will make better decisions and be primed for success in an increasingly competitive world.

Storytelling is a great way to directly influence young readers and we hope your child quickly understands the important messages imbedded in each story.

Reading age 5-10 yrs

Four life changing stories: Timmy Tuna (Teamwork) In this story about Teamwork, your child is a mighty tuna fish called Timmy. You are the fastest fish in the sea and you fear nothing as you speed through the ocean. Only when you are caught in an abandoned net do you realise that even the most powerful of us can achieve more when we work together in a team...

Magic Mouse (Goal Setting) This story teaches the benefits of having dreams and making them happen (setting and achieving goals). As the smallest mouse in your family, you start life with a disadvantage but soon you decide to make more of yourself.

So you train hard to be a Mouse Magician and end up saving your family from disaster...

Elli the Ant (Working hard & planning ahead) Ants are smart. As a busy little Ant, you know that the abundant food of Summer will eventually run out when the snow of Winter falls. You make sure your larder is well stocked with delicious food before you enjoy playing with friends and partying.

When Winter arrives others must migrate or hibernate to survive...

NEW!

Pip & the Big Apple (Self Development)

As a tiny sapling lost on the forest floor you long to be big and strong and popular like Big Apple. But you discover that there is more learning and growing to do first. With the help of Big Apple, you learn how to grow your roots deep into the ground to resist the storms, how to turn your leaves to the sun and make blossom grow, and how to make your branches strong enough to carry a ton of apples...

Reading age 5-10 yrs

Magic Mouse The goal of this story is to introduce young children to some of the principles which contribute to a successful and fulfilling life.

These principles are tried and tested and taught to adults by life skills Guru’s around the world.

At HumanBean we feel that if young children can start to understand these principles and behaviors at an early age, then they are more likely to adopt them as they grow up. With strong foundations, they will be better able to succeed in an increasingly challenging world.

This book, like all the HumanBean stories, has been written with a specific purpose in mind - to introduce your child to the attitudes and behaviours which bring success in life. These ‘success principles’ have been available to adults in their work and business lives for many years. They are proven techniques for improving your life. But, until now, children have been more or less excluded from this valuable learning.

This story has been written to bring these attitudes and behaviours to children, aged 5-10, through an exciting and entertaining stories, where the reader is the hero.

Key Principle: Goals, Dreams and Planning for Success:

Your child will learn about teamwork, goal setting, prioritisation and other important skills while enjoying these entertaining stories.

In ‘Magic Mouse’ we refer to Goals as Dreams. We develop the idea that you can have a dream and make it happen even if those around you don’t believe you can or should do it.

Storytelling is a great way to directly influence young readers and we hope your child enjoys ‘Magic Mouse’.

You realise that you’ll need to plan and practise your skills in order to succeed, but if you stick at it you can achieve anything.

Thank you, David Machin

Setting and achieving goals is one of the most important behaviors for success and can make a huge difference to your child’s confidence and self-belief.

If you like this story, you’ll love The Star Dragon. A fully illustrated book which includes all the key behaviors for success in life.

This book has been produced as a learning aid for children.

More tools and resources at: www.humanbean.com