The Tale of Two Bad Mice
Beatrix Potter
Two mice find a beautiful doll's house with a lovely dinner on the table. Nothing in it is quite what it seems.
About the book
A 1904 tale set in a doll's house that belongs to two dolls, Lucinda and Jane the cook. While the dolls are out, two mice, Tom Thumb and his wife Hunca Munca, find their way in through the nursery. The dining table is already laid with two lobsters, a ham, a fish, a pudding, pears and oranges. It looks like a perfect dinner, until Tom Thumb tries to carve the ham.
Reading it as a learner
About nine minutes and 900 words, rated B1. Potter writes this one with a dry, ironic tone that adult readers tend to enjoy. Key words like cautiously, frugal, crumple and rage show how much feeling a single verb or adverb can carry. It is also handy household vocabulary: kitchen, bedroom, cradle, dresser, coal-box. Try listing everything the mice try to take home as you read.
Contents
Chapter 1