Whose Mouse Are You? was a question first asked by Robert Kraus in his picture book mouse tale published “way back” in 1970, when civil rights and women’s rights were raising all kinds of societal, racial, and gender self-image questions.
Posing our adult selves with the same question, albeit 45 years later, it seems to me, remains a healthy self-test–maybe even a necessary reality check–even if (especially if!?!) we think we have ourselves all figured out. Who—or what– “owns” us? Motivates us? Takes first place in our minds and hearts? Who or what takes precedence in our time, energy, or checkbook? Who or what is our life all about?
Finding adult meaning in stories such as Whose Mouse Are You?: that’s the beauty of reading children’s picture books, with or without the children! …Deceivingly simple plots that children can follow often present philosophically deep journeys into self that adult readers can take!
Whether or not you have a child to whom to read (or re-read) the book, treat yourself to a read of Kraus’s book, and if you are okay with mouse allegories, and you are facing an unintended change in your life, particularly in your work life, you might wish to (or re-read) the grown-up mouse tale question book written for adults—Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson.
Then, just for fun, read both books to a child. There’s no telling what message and meaning a youngster might take from them! The insights of a child can be insightful for adults, indeed!
cbhanek 