You ate the story? says one mouse to the other in this thoughtful, funny, and heartfelt read-aloud with pitch-perfect repartee and Barney Saltzberg’s signature take on the perils and pleasures of creativity.

Two mice-one big and one small-have a terrible problem in this satisfying comedic journey that parents and children will want to take together again and again. Little Mouse is looking for a story-they’re in a book after all!-and Big Mouse has to admit the truth. The story is gone. And (gasp!) he ate it. That is not okay with Little Mouse, who expects his story and will settle for nothing less. What follows is an improvisational dialogue that showcases both the patience and discipline required of true creativity and the dazzling on-the-spot storytelling that can happen when you get in the flow. Parents, teachers, and kids alike will cheer for these heroic mice as they work out the kinks in their friendship and make the reader realize that they’ve been delivering a story all along.