In this third and final Ralph S. Mouse novel from Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary, Ralph heads to school to see what humans do all day . . . and to discover what the "S" in Ralph S. Mouse stands for!  With his rowdy cousins constantly wearing out his motorcycle and the Mountain View Inn manager threatening to take care of the mouse infestation once and for all, Ralph decides it's time to get away for a while. He convinces his human friend Ryan to take him along to school, where Ralph instantly becomes the center of attention. But when Ryan's class decides to see how smart Ralph is by making him run a maze, the usually confident mouse starts to fret. What if he's not as clever as he thought? Ralph S. Mouse  is perfect for independent reading or for shared reading at home or in a classroom. This fun story is the third of a trilogy, along with  The Mouse and the Motorcycle  and  Runaway Ralph , all inspired by the author's hope to create appealing books for boys and girls—and by the sight of her son playing with toy cars. When Ralph and his pesky cousins accidentally make a mess at the Mountain View Inn, Ralph decides that he'd better take his motorcycle and leave. He persuades his young pal Ryan to take him to school, where Ralph is an instant hit with Ryan's classmates. But Ralph doesn't like being told what to do. Worse than that, his precious motorcycle gets broken. Is Ralph stuck at school forever? Beverly Cleary is one of America's most beloved authors. As a child, she struggled with reading and writing. But by third grade, after spending much time in her public library in Portland, Oregon, she found her skills had greatly improved. Before long, her school librarian was saying that she should write children's books when she grew up. Instead she became a librarian. When a young boy asked her, "Where are the books about kids like us?" she remembered her teacher's encouragement and was inspired to write the books she'd longed to read but couldn't find when she was younger. She based her funny stories on her own neighborhood experiences and the sort of children she knew. And so, the Klickitat Street gang was born! Mrs. Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented to her in recognition of her lasting contribution to children's literature. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the Newbery Medal, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father have been named Newbery Honor Books. Her characters, including Beezus and Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph, the motorcycle-riding mouse, have delighted children for generations. B. D. Wong made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly . He is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award ® , Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award for the same performance. In this installment in Cleary's beloved Mouse and the Motorcycle trilogy, Ralph has problems. His motorcycle is suffering wear and tear from his nightly excursions, and his adoring relatives are messing up the hotel lobby where they live. Yet the "S" stands for Smart, and Ralph calculates that the mysterious place called "school" might hold the solution to his problems. B.D. Wong brings the characters of the Mountain View Hotel and the Irwin J. Sneed Elementary School to life. Ralph and "his boy," Ryan, are as vibrant and intertwined as any two characters can beâ pouting over tiffs and rejoicing over victories. Wong's supporting characters are distinctâ from imperious hotel manager, Mr. Minch, to creative classroom teacher Miss K. A.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine