A picture book
Adventures in Mousington
"Mice find adventure and friendship in the most unexpected places."
The Storybook
Open the book for a full-page read. Swipe, tap the arrows, or use your keyboard's ← → keys.
Publisher pitch
A cozy underground adventure about
courage, kindness, and the magic of stories.
Beneath Milford Memorial Library is Mousington — a candle-lit town where two little mice, Buddy and Lizzy, set out for the adventure of their lives. They learn that the toughest hearts are often the loneliest, that real bravery is kindness, and that the very best adventures live inside a book.
- Author
- Susan Rackliff
- Age range
- 4–8 (read-aloud), 7–9 (independent)
- Format
- 15 illustrated pages
- Themes
- Courage · Kindness · Friendship · Imagination · Books
- Comparable titles
- The Tale of Despereaux · Mrs. Brisby · Town Mouse, Country Mouse
For parents & teachers
A reading guide for courage, kindness, and story-powered imagination.
Use this section as a parent note, classroom discussion starter, or publisher-facing education hook. The app is designed to support read-aloud, read-with-me, independent reading, hearing-impaired, visually impaired, dyslexia-friendly, and calm sensory experiences.
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01
What made Lizzy brave?
Was it being big and loud — or was it standing still and saying "no"? Talk about a time you stood up for yourself or a friend.
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02
Why did Ice act tough?
What was Ice really feeling under the leather jacket and the blue hair? Have you ever pretended to feel one thing when you felt another?
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03
How did Furball show kindness?
Furball was big and the mice were small. What did he do with his bigness? What can we do with the bigness we have?
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04
How can books take us on adventures?
Great Grampy never left Mousington. Where have you been because of a book? Make a tiny list together.
Three reading modes
Read to Me · Read With Me · I'll Read
Begin with the built-in read-aloud controls for bedtime. Use “Read With Me” by pausing after each page title and inviting the child to echo a favorite line. For independent readers, turn captions on and ask them to describe the picture before reading the text.
SEL focus
Kindness is the bravest choice.
Lizzy's “no,” Ice's honesty, and Furball's gentleness create a simple emotional-literacy arc children can act out and retell.
Classroom activity
Map Mousington together.
Draw the library above and the town below. Add pebble streets, candle lamps, Ice's alley, Furball's tunnel, and Great Grampy's room.
Accessibility note
Every child gets a way in.
Use scene descriptions for visually impaired readers, sound captions for hearing-impaired readers, and the dyslexia-friendly mode for wider spacing.
5-years-ahead roadmap
The Living Storybook vision.
Next layers can add empathic narration, sign-language picture-in-picture, tactile illustration exports, AR Mousington maps, ethical co-author micro-stories, and teacher dashboards for school adoption.
From Susan's notebook
The original manuscript pages
These photographed pages are the source for this adaptation. Susan Rackliff's hand-written draft, kept just as it was found.