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|  | | What on earth is a mouse of wonders? The same question occurs to Nikodemus, nicknamed Niko, the red and brown striped tabby cat in Manfred Mai’s new children’s book Nikodemus und das Mäusewunder (‘Nikodemus and the mouse of wonders’). Ingeniously illustrated by Jochen Stuhrmann, this story is about an unusual friendship, and about how easy it is to find new wonders of the world if you simply look at things from a fresh perspective.
Everything seems perfectly clear to start with: ‘You’re a mouse and I’m a cat. And cats eat mice. End of story!’ For Nikodemus the tom-cat, life is played out according to clear-cut rules — with ‘Might is right’ as the essential principle. One day, however, in order to save her own life, Luzille the mouse makes an unusual suggestion — a suggestion that throws Nikodemus’s picture of the world into considerable confusion. ‘If you let me live, I’ll show you a couple of the wonders of the world.’ Niko can scarcely imagine how such a tiny little mouse could possibly surprise him — but he’s flattered that he’s to be the first to see these wonders, and so he accepts the challenge.
Their route takes them through the streets of the town, and it soon becomes apparent that size is not always an advantage, for when they get to the fishmonger’s Luzille disappears into the shop through a tiny gap, while the big tom-cat has to stay outside. He thinks he has been tricked — but he is wrong, for the mouse reappears dragging the first of her wonders behind her: a fresh fish for Niko! He is seized by curiosity: what other surprises might await him?
There behind an enormous fence — so Luzille promises him — sits the biggest cat in the world — far bigger than Niko, she tells him. ‘No cat in the world is bigger than I am’, he retorts, full of himself as ever; but finding himself confronted by a gigantic tiger he has to recognise just how small he is, and instantly takes fright. And precisely this constitutes the turning point in the pair’s relationship. For after this sudden shock the two of them take a rest under a park bench and introduce themselves to each other: previously strangers to one another, they become Niko and Luzille, a pair of firm friends.
But Luzille has a further wonder to reveal, and demonstrates yet again that even if you’re little you can sometimes prove yourself to be very big. At the fairground she takes her new friend to the roller-coaster, whose countless loops and spirals promise a whirlwind adventure. But whilst the bold little mouse just can’t get enough of the stomach-churning excitement, the cat — previously so high and mighty — wants nothing more than to be safely back on solid ground. Following all the whirling swirling Niko is green in the face, and while he takes a much-needed rest Luzille makes it her business to keep snails and ants away from him.
After an experience such as this Niko has had his fill of wonders of the world, but wants all the same to repay his new friend’s kindness, and so promises her something that he claims is even more beautiful than all the other things they have seen and done during the course of the day. And with the setting sun bathing the streets in a warm pink hue the cat grabs hold of the mouse and carries her carefully up to the roof of his house. And as the city slowly lights up beneath them and the stars come out above them, Luzille is struck with amazement and declares ‘This is the closest I’ve ever been to the heavens.’
Not the least impressive feature of Nikodemus und das Mäusewunder is the highly effective interplay of words and pictures. What makes the illustrations especially telling are the profusion of lovingly drawn details and the judicious shifts of perspective from worm’s eye to bird’s eye view. This successful marrying of text and image means that children can discover something new on each and every one of the appealingly laid-out two-page spreads. Looking through the mouse’s eyes they see passers-by as tall as houses and encounter grand parades of ants, whereas in Niko’s shoes they can share the horrors of his roller-coaster ride, or gaze out from the rooftops across the nocturnal sea of houses.
In addition, changes of mood within the story are emphasised through the clever use of colour. Whereas at the beginnning the town is shrouded in oppressive browns and yellows, the developing friendship between the two protagonists is parelleled by the increasing use of more benign shades such as turquoise, red and blue. The imaginative illustrations thus contribute greatly to getting the key ideas of the book across, and show how shifts in perspective and colouration can have a transformative effect not only on our view of ourselves, but also on our view of others.
The friendship between the mouse Luzille and the cat Nikodemus develops thanks to a journey of discovery in which each not only shows the other their own world, but also learns to understand the world of the other. In so doing they experience the wondrous process whereby enemies can become friends when familiar things are seen with fresh eyes. This children’s book thus makes its young readers curious to take another look at what is already familiar to them, and hence makes them more attentive to their surroundings. For it is purely by this process that a little grey mouse that is initially just a tasty snack in the eyes of the cat Nikodemus, proves on closer inspection to be a potential friend — and that is the real wonder of the story.
Andrea Müller
March 2011
[Translated by Helena Ragg-Kirkby]
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