Mouse and Mole, A Winter Wonderland by Wong Herbert Yee

Sno-Mole

    ZOOM!
Mouse shot down the hill
on her sled. The sled hit a bump.
It flew up in the air.
"Yippee!" yelped Mouse.
"
Bumping-jumping on a sled,

better here than stuck in bed!
"
Mouse sighed. "Sledding is fun,"
she said, "but it would be more
fun if Mole were here."

    She headed for the pond.
Mouse laced up her skates.
Left, right, left, right!

Mouse skated across the ice.

    Mouse whirled!
Mouse twirled!

    She made perfect figure eights,
forward and backwards.
"
Across the ice I zip and glide,

better here than stuck inside!
"
Mouse sighed. "Skating is fun,"
she said, "but it would be more
fun if Mole were here."

    Mouse took off her skates.
Mouse dragged the sled back to
the oak. She stared at the tracks
in the snow. They were all from
her boots. "I am alone; alone is me."
Mouse made a snowball:
pat-pat-pat!

She threw it against the trunk—
SPLAT!
"Hmm, not too wet
and not too dry."
    ZIP !

    Mouse tapped her boot.
Mouse twirled her tail.
She came up with a plan!
It began with another ball of snow.

    Mouse rolled it around the oak.
The snowball got bigger...
and BIGGER.

    Mouse pushed it on the sled.
Then she went to work on the middle.
Push and roll, roll and push!

Mouse set the middle part on
top of the bottom part.
"Whew!" she huffed.
"Now for the head."

    Plink!
Mouse knocked an icicle
off the branch with a twig.
"Just the thing for a nose,"
she proclaimed.
Crack!
Mouse
snapped the twig in two.
"Now I have arms as well!"

    Mouse used acorns for eyes and
pebbles to make a mouth.
She took a step backwards.
The snowman looked familiar.
The snowman reminded Mouse
of someone she knew. "I shall call
you
Sno-Mole,
" she snickered,
"because you look just
like my friend!"

    Mouse tapped her boot.
Mouse twirled her tail.
Something was still missing.
She headed back to the oak tree.
Mouse crept down the stairs ...
and snuck into Mole's hole.

    She rummaged through Mole's closet.
"Mole does not need a hat," whispered
Mouse to herself. "He does not need
his scarf or mittens either."
She tiptoed back outside.

    Mouse put the hat on the snowman's head.
Mouse wrapped the scarf around
the snowman's neck. She stuck
mittens on the twigs.
Mouse looked at Sno-Mole.
Sno-Mole looked at Mouse.
"What about sledding?"
she squeaked,
"or skating on the pond?"

    Mouse ducked behind the snowman.
"
Bumping-jumping on a sled?

What if I should lose my head?

Skating is something I would not miss.

Skating would be perfect on a

day like this!
" sang Sno-Mole.
And that is exactly
what they did!

The New Friend

    Mole huddled under the covers.
He was as snug as a bug in a rug.
Mole rolled to his left.
Mole rolled to his right.
Mole rolled right off the bed—
whump!
He lay on the floor
like a cocoon in his blankets.
"I am as bored as a turtle in its shell.
I wonder what Mouse is up to?"

    Thump, thump, thump!
hopped Mole
across the floor. He opened the door
a crack—
whoosh!
A gust of frosty
air nipped his snout. Mole saw Mouse
headed down the path. Mouse was
not alone. Someone was following
his friend. "Yikes!" cried Mole.
"Stranger danger!"

    Mole rummaged through his closet.
He pulled on snow pants. He tugged
on boots:
thup, thup!

"Rats, no hat!"
muttered Mole.
He rummaged around some more.
"Phooey! No scarf or mittens either."
Mole buttoned his coat and ran outside.
He followed the stranger that
was following Mouse.

    The tracks led Mole to the pond.
He ducked down in the cattails.
ZOOM!

Mouse flew past with the stranger
in tow. "Yippee!" she yelped.

    The stranger had a smile on its face.
Mole nearly toppled out on the ice.
"That is no stranger!" he gulped.
"Mouse is with a friend ...
and that friend is not ME!"

    ZOOM!
Mouse and her partner zipped
by once more. Mole rubbed his snout.
Something about this new friend
was awfully familiar—
ZOOM!

"Why...
that
is my hat!" said Mole.
ZOOM-ZOOM!
"And
those
are my
mittens and matching scarf too!"
Mole watched in disbelief as
Mouse and her partner
made perfect figure