The Story Of Jumping Mouse

The Story of Jumping Mouse is a children's book based on a Native American myth. It was retold and illustrated by John Steptoe.

A young mouse hears so many enticing tales of the Far-Off Land that he feels an overwhelming urge to see it for himself. With some powerful hind legs, courtesy of Magic Frog, he travels a long distance, encountering many trials and multiple animals who need costly help. Will Jumping Mouse ever achieve his goal?

This book includes examples of the following tropes:

• Androcles' Lion: After Jumping Mouse gives them his own senses, the bison and the wolf thank him by escorting him as far as they can so that the birds of prey in the sky won't be able to catch him.
• Break the Haughty: The wolf tells Jumping Mouse that he used to be a proud animal who lost his sense of smell due to misuse. Although the loss taught him a lesson, it also robbed him of all hope, thanks to how important a wolf's nose is for its survival. Pitying him, Jumping Mouse gives him his own sense of smell.
• Brutal Bird of Prey: Being a mouse, the hero is naturally afraid of "the shadows of the sky". When he helps the bison and the wolf, they thank him by offering protection from the birds while he's traveling through their area.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Jumping Mouse and Magic Frog both have names that are their kind plus an adjective.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Jumping Mouse has to make a long, difficult, and troublesome journey. On the way, he gives up two of his senses to fellow animals. After reaching the far-off land, he suffers a breakdown, wondering how he'll handle things the way he currently is. However, then Magic Frog arrives, praises him for his noble actions, and transforms him into an eagle, giving him his senses back as well as a power boost.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A non-lethal one; Jumping Mouse gives his own sense of sight and smell to a bison and a wolf upon finding them helpless, thus taking away the benefits he receives from the senses.
• "Leave Your Quest" Test: Jumping Mouse exhausts himself early in the journey and stays with an older mouse, who advises him against pursuing his dream, saying that he had a similar one and never found anything beyond the desert. Jumping Mouse doesn't intend to stay, but it's comfortable enough there that he remains to rest for a long time. One day, he looks at his reflection and sees he's almost as fat as his host, which makes up his mind to move on before he really settles there.
• Named After the Injury: Inverted. Magic Frog gives the mouse the name Jumping Mouse when she gives him new legs. Later, Jumping Mouse encounters a bison and a wolf who have lost their sight and sense of smell (respectively). Giving them his own senses, Jumping Mouse names them Eyes of a Mouse and Nose of a Mouse.
• Nice Mice: Jumping Mouse is determined, compassionate, and selfless. He is friendly to the bison and the wolf even though he finds them intimidating, and when he hears their sad stories, he sacrifices his own senses to help them. Even the older mouse who tries to discourage him from his quest is grumpy and cynical rather than mean; he offers to let Jumping Mouse live with him permanently when Jumping Mouse only asks if he can rest there.
• Noble Bird of Prey: As a reward for his virtuous behavior, Magic Frog transforms Jumping Mouse into an eagle.
• No Name Given: The old mouse who hosts Jumping Mouse for a while is never named. Likewise, Eyes of a Mouse and Nose of a Mouse never give their own names before Jumping Mouse renames them.
• Snakes Are Sinister: During his journey, Jumping Mouse stays with an older mouse, who warns him that a snake lives across the river. The older mouse isn't very worried, however, because he never plans to cross the river, and the snake is afraid of water. The day Jumping Mouse decides to move on, he notices a caught branch spanning the stream. He runs to warn his host but arrives too late.
• That's No Moon: Jumping Mouse initially mistakes the bison for a huge rock, only realizing the truth after he gets nearer.
• Transformation Exhilaration: Jumping Mouse makes it all the way to the Far-Off Land, where he's met by Magic Frog, who praises his unselfishness. She tells him to jump, and as he does, he notes that he feels more powerful. He's also overjoyed that the transformation gives him the ability to see and smell again.
• You Are Already Dead: When Jumping Mouse comes across the bison and the wolf, they're lying in one spot and not moving. They explain to him that without their lost senses, they can't manage important things like finding sustenance or their way. They can't survive long-term, so they've simply given up.