Runaway Ralph
1970
- watchdogs
- motorcycling
- camping
- running away
- summer camp
- summer
- juvenile fiction
- mice
- fiction
- mice -- fiction
The story
Runaway Ralph is the second in a children's novel trilogy written by Beverly Cleary. First published in 1970, it is the last book by Cleary that Louis Darling illustrated before his death. The book features the titular character, Ralph S. Mouse, a house mouse that can talk to humans, and goes on adventures on his miniature motorcycle. The book was given the Nene Award by the Hawaii Library Association in 1972.
What it’s like
Brisk, sunny and warmly unhurried, with the bright summer-road feel of a children's book set largely outdoors: Louis Darling's pen-and-ink illustrations give the mouse hero and his world a spare, scratchy charm, with little dashes of shading and plenty of white page. The prose is plain, conversational and easy to follow, the kind of mid-century American children's voice that addresses the reader directly and trusts ordinary details to carry a scene. Its pace is steady and episodic, moving from one small mishap or new acquaintance to the next across a summer, with the open road, a campground, and a mouse's tiny motorcycle supplying the sense of freedom. Emotionally it stays light and good-natured, touching on restlessness, independence and a friendship with a boy and his dog without real danger or cruelty; any tension is brief and resolves quickly. There is no violence, no gore, nothing frightening, and no sexual content. It suits a lazy summer afternoon, a read-aloud before bed, or a gentle comfort reread, and it's for young readers and adults who enjoy unfussy, cheerful animal stories with a touch of old-fashioned charm.
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