A Visitor for Bear

Though the sign on his front door says "No Visitors Allowed," Bear hears a knock and opens the door only to find a mouse, "small and gray and bright-eyed." "Go away," Bear says firmly, but that little mouse keeps showing up everywhere: in the cupboard ("Perhaps we could just have a spot of tea?" asks the winsome fellow), and in the bread drawer, and even in the fridge. Vainly attempting to keep his house mouse-free, Bear is flummoxed and furious and vexed. He takes drastic measures, locking the door, boarding the windows shut, stopping up the chimney with cement, and plugging the bathroom drain. When the mouse pops up from inside the teakettle, Bear blubbers, "I give up . . . I am undone." Really, all the indefatigable mouse wants is a bit of cheese, some tea, and a nice fire, and then, he promises, he will go. Much to curmudgeonly Bear's surprise, he enjoys having the little visitor around, especially when the mouse laughs at his jokes.

Themes : BEARS. FRIENDSHIP. MICE. VISITORS.