Mice are not normally known for their bravery and that is why the exploits of Norman: Mouse of the North Country, are so legendary. It seems one evening, high in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, two brothers slowly dragged themselves into camp next to a beautiful little lake. One brother struggled to set up the tent while the other began the business of preparing dinner. They ate soup and rolls, macaroni and they had chocolate pudding for dessert.

The brothers watched the sun go down behind the mountains and then it became very dark and very cold. They decided to crawl into their tent and do the dishes in the morning. They carefully wrapped their boots to make pillows, and pushed all of their clothes to the bottom of the sleeping bags to keep them warm for morning and then they began to sleep. It had been a very, long, hard hike and they were very tired.

After dark, the deer mice scampered out of their burrow. It was cold but their fur kept them warm. Besides, their noses told them there was something special waiting for supper tonight! The little mice raced around the camp discovering little crumbs of bread, bits of left over macaroni and they even licked up all the chocolate pudding that was stuck on the sides of the dishes! It was a wonderful feast.

When the meal was over, the mice began to sing little religious mice songs like: "When the Trumpet of the Lord Shall Sound and Cats Shall be No More," and tell funny mice stories like "Why did the cat cross the road? I don't know but I'm glad he did!" But Norman was curious.

"Why do we have to wait to eat until those humans have finished their meal? Why can't we just march into that tent and take their food like a Grizzly Bear would? I'm tired of waiting for scraps!" he said.

"Hmm," a wise old mouse muttered. "Let's see your most fearsome mouse face."

Norman gritted his teeth and screwed up his eyes. He stood on his hind legs and began to growl in his most fearsome voice: "Squeak! SQUEAK!"

It was very terrifying for lady bugs and crickets but everyone else just laughed at him.

"Laugh all you want! I'm going to do it! I'm going into that tent and take all their food."

Everyone was laughing, "Oh Norman! Stop it! You are so funny." But that just made Norman mad. He jumped off the table and wiggled under the tent flap. The two brothers were snoring like bears do. It sounded very scary but Norman was determined. He sniffed the air carefully and then began to climb up the sleeping bag. The nylon was very slippery and several times Norman began to slide down the bag into the hole where the human was! Norman tried and tried to arrest his fall but it was no use! He was sliding right into the older brother's enormous mouth. The human's teeth glistened in the moon light. His horrible tongue wiggled as giant blasts of hot, foul, breath erupted with each snore. It was too late! Norman was falling! Falling right into the big brother's giant mouth.

"AAAAaaaaaaahhhh!" Norman screamed as he fell.

Fortunately the older brother closed his mouth just in time and poor Norman landed on his nose and woke the human up!

"What --- is --- that!!!" the brother screamed as he jumped up kicking his younger brother. The boy swatted Norman away and sent the little mouse flying into the tent wall. The other brother began swatting too and shouting, "It's a bear! It's a bear!" The brothers began fighting for their lives. Each one thought the other one was a giant grizzly.

Meanwhile, Norman found a sack full of peanuts and managed to escape under the tent flap while the two brothers wrestled and shouted and fought for their lives.

The other mice were amazed and proclaimed Norman, "the bravest mouse who ever lived." And that's the story of Norman: Mouse of the North Country.