An adorable back to school story from Kazuo Iwamura! It's time for seven little mice to start school! And it's up to Mother Mouse to get them there. When the little mice prove reluctant, Mother Mouse invents "the mouse train" -- all aboard! "It is the day before school starts, and the septuplets ("like twins only there are seven") are all ready for school with new hats, bags and shoes. But Mother must face the fact that her children do not want to go to school. They'll be too tired, the wind will be too cold, they'll meet a snake and they won't know anyone; these are among their many excuses. Cleverly, Mother plans for the morning by unwinding two balls of yarn, making parallel lines that stretch from home all the way to school. She is unruffled when the children ignore her announcement that it is time for school--she just calmly steps out, stands between the strings and announces that the school train is departing. This piques the kids' interest, and they are out of the house in no time, following along. But will some of their fears come true?" - Kirkus Reviews "Assuaging the anxieties of one first-time student is tough enough, let alone seven.

In this story, first published in Japan in 1981, an industrious mouse mother hatches a plan for getting her septuplets to school, rolling out two lines of yarn along the path through the woods. In the morning, she announces, "All aboard!" and the seven curious mice line up, with the yarn becoming the train tracks. Along the way, the "Mouse Train" picks up more "passengers," and the mice even scare off a snake. This story about finding creative solutions unfolds with understated elegance." -Publishers Weekly.