The Adventures of Mouse Deer: Favorite Folk Tales of Southeast Asia

By Aaron Shepard

"I'm quick and smart as I can be. Try and try, but you can't catch me!"
 
Mouse Deer sings his song as he walks through the forest looking for tasty fruits and roots and shoots. Though he is small, he is not afraid. He knows that many big animals want to eat him -- but first they have to catch him! 
 
In these delightful trickster tales from Southeast Asia, find out how Mouse Deer gets the best of his enemies -- Tiger, Crocodile, and the most dangerous animal of all, Farmer!
 
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Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of "The Baker's Dozen," "The Sea King's Daughter," "The Monkey King," and many more children's books. His stories have appeared often in Cricket magazine, while his Web site is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater. Once a professional storyteller, Aaron specializes in lively retellings of folktales and other traditional literature, which have won him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society.
 
Kim Gamble is one of the most popular children's book illustrators of Australia. He is also a frequent contributor to that country's much-loved School Magazine, where Aaron's Mouse Deer stories first appeared. 
 
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"A retelling of some of Southeast Asia's most popular folklore .... Simply narrated, The Adventures of Mouse Deer is witty and steeped in the power of myth, as well as high-spirited determination.... [A] delightful introduction to an enduring legend."-- Small Press Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review, May 2005
 
"Mouse Deer's small stature leaves him vulnerable in the jungle, but Crocodile, Tiger, and Farmer are no match for this quick-witted, fearless creature. Give this book to children making their first forays into chapter books, and visit the author's Web site to download readers theater scripts." -- Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal, Dec. 1, 2009
 
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CONTENTS
 
1 ~ Mouse Deer and Tiger
2 ~ Mouse Deer and Crocodile
3 ~ Mouse Deer and Farmer
 
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SAMPLE
 
Then he heard something. ROWR! 
 
There was Tiger!
 
"Hello, Mouse Deer. I was just getting hungry. Now you can be my lunch."
 
Mouse Deer didn't want to be lunch. He looked around and thought fast. He saw a mud puddle.
 
"I'm sorry, Tiger. I can't be your lunch. The King has ordered me to guard his pudding."
 
"His pudding?" said Tiger.
 
"Yes. There it is." Mouse Deer pointed to the mud puddle. "It has the best taste in the world. The King doesn't want anyone else to eat it."
 
Tiger looked longingly at the puddle. "I would like to taste the King's pudding."
 
"Oh, no, Tiger! The King would be very angry."
 
"Just one little taste, Mouse Deer! The King will never know."
 
"Well, all right, Tiger. But first let me run far away, so no one will blame me."
 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhook Press
• Release date: Feb 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781620352229

Aaron Shepard

Aaron Shepard has written award-winning short fiction and has been published in a number of Canadian literary journals, including the Fiddlehead and PRISM International. His personal essay “Edge of the Herd” appears in the anthology Nobody’s Father: Life Without Kids. He is a graduate of the University of Victoria’s MFA in Creative Writing program, and has served on the fiction board of the Malahat Review. An avid outdoorsman, Aaron enjoys hiking, camping, birdwatching, and cross-country skiing in his spare time. When is a Man is his debut novel. Follow Aaron on Twitter at @AaronWhen.

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Aaron Shepard’s many books for young people have won honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the American Folklore Society, and the National Council for the Social Studies. Visit him at www.aaronshep.com.

Kim Gamble is one of the most popular children’s book illustrators of Australia. He is also a frequent contributor to that country’s much-loved School Magazine, where Aaron’s Mouse Deer stories first appeared.

Visit Aaron’s home page for

• A reader’s theater script of this story

• Posters of the story characters

• More about the stories

www.aaronshep.com

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