Who is Perley N. Church Mouse?

Perley Nathaniel Church Mouse

SOUTH BRIDGTON, Maine - Perley Nathaniel Church Mouse, The Famous Author Mouse, lives with his family in a lovely old church in a tiny hamlet in Maine.

When he’s not writing stories for his “Church Folks,” he enjoys playing grape soccer and mouse tag with his friends Timothy and Sebastian.

Perley enjoys school and recently won the Squire Perley History Prize. Since he has little use for money, Perley donates the royalties from the sales of his books to help support organizations that care for homeless or hungry animals and children.

For many generations, Perley Church Mouse’s family has lived beneath the floor boards of the South Bridgton Congregational Church in South Bridgton, Maine. When the church fell on hard times, church members were talking of closing the church doors. But, a small mouse tugged on the pant leg of one of the Church Folks and sparked a revival that charted a new course for an old country church.

Interview 

[Recently, Gouda Fromage, investigative reporter for The Church Mouse Times, sat down with Famous Author Mouse Perley N. Church Mouse and conducted an exclusive interview with him which is reprinted here by permission.]

Church Mouse Times: How has your life changed since you’ve become a Famous Author Mouse?

Perley: It hasn’t changed much at all. My Mom and Dad still make me clean my own mouse hole and do my own homework. My parents do worry about me getting too big for my tail and heading off to some place called Hollywood, but I like where I live and I think I’ll stay put.

CMT: Our sources tell us that you recently became a partner in a publishing company. Can you describe what that’s like?

Perley: Well, mostly it is a lot of boring meetings and talking. But at the end of the meeting there are always snacks like crackers and cheese and gumdrops. That makes it worth coming out of my mouse hole.

CMT: How would you describe your writing style?

Perley: Someone said I write like Margaret Mitchell who wrote a book called Gone with the Wind. I don’t know if I do or not because that book was way too big to read. I did chew a few of its pages, and they were pretty tasty.

CMT: How did you become interested in writing?

Perley: When my church folks needed help getting the church fixed, I started writing letters to help them and next thing I knew, I had enough stories for a book!

CMT: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Perley: I like playing grape soccer with my friends Timothy and Sebastian. I also like hiking, playing Mousie Tag, and going on adventures. And, of course, I like eating. I really like eating. Especially cheese and carrots and peanuts. I’m a little hungry right now, if you happen to have any.

CMT: One last question, you tell folks you live in the second mouse hole on the left. Can you explain where to find that?

Perley: Well, actually, it’s easy to find. You see, you don’t have to worry about finding the second mouse hole on the left. You just need to find the first mouse hole on the left, and then it’s the next one after that. Unless you are coming from the other side, and then you don’t need to find the second mouse hole on the left, you just need to find the first mouse hole on the right. I hope that helps!

CMT: How can people contact you Perley?

Perley: That's easy. Just go to: Facebook! 

 Dear Church Folks,

Today I’d like to tell you some more about our big adventure to Adams Pond. After we spent the night in Mrs. Fluff’s rabbit hole, we got up early and had breakfast and got ready for the next part of our trip.

We had to cross a great big field and we got to make a bunch of new friends. We met some field mice and some song birds and some butterflies and some grasshoppers. Everyone was really friendly and nice to us. We invited them all to come see us at the church sometime. Maybe they could even come to one of our suppers.

We went up to a big white house and Grandpa Mouse said one of the church folks lived there and he would help us cross Big Road. Grandpa went up to the door and scratched on it then he ran back to where we were hiding in the garden because he said he smelled a cat. A man came out of the house and scootched down by the bush we were under and said hello to us. Then, he told us that when we crossed the road we needed to be quick as a bunny so we wouldn’t get hurt. He looked both ways for us then he told us it was safe to cross. He was nice even if he did let a cat live with him.

Then, we scurried the rest of the way to our friend Peg’s boat house. We were all really excited to get there after such a long journey. Timothy and Sebastian and I couldn’t decide what to do first. We wanted to go swimming and build a raft and hunt for mushrooms all at once. Finally, we decided we would go swimming first.

Timothy and Sebastian ran right up on a rock and jumped in the water. I decided I would dip my paw in first and see how cold the water was. I was right on the edge of the water and I heard a strange sound. Something in the bushes said, “Gaah-roomp.” I never heard anything before that said, “Gaah-roomp” so I looked over at Grandpa Mouse. He smiled and said, “I know that voice!” Then, he came over and looked under some reeds and the strangest looking creature came out and looked at us. Grandpa said the creature was a frog and Gaah-roomp was his name. Grandpa knew him from when he was in the Mouse Guard.

I never knew anyone who looked like Gaah-roomp before. He has big eyes and he catches bugs with his tongue which I think is kind of disgusting. He also hops really high and can swim really good, too. Timothy and Sebastian and I really didn’t know what to think of him. He was just so different from all the other creatures we know. We didn’t know if we would like him or not. 

We watched him talking to Grandpa like they were old friends and he seemed really nice. Then, we started asking him questions about what it was like to be a frog. He told us all about how he likes to float in the water and jump and swim. That’s all stuff that we like to do, too. After we talked to him for awhile we decided he was really nice. He asked us if we wanted to go swimming with him. Boy, did we! He taught us how to dive under the water. Then, he did something really cool. He took each of us for a ride on his back. He sure is a good swimmer. We got to go really fast and we all had such a great time. 

That night, we asked Gaah-roomp to have supper with us. We all sat around the campfire and sang songs. Gaah-roomp sang along with us. He taught us a song called Froggie Went a’Courtin’ which is a neat song because it has a frog and a mouse in it. Sebastian and Timothy and I liked having Gaah-roomp share our campfire because he’s lots of fun and he doesn’t like marshmallows and he sure can keep the bugs away!

Grandpa Mouse told us that creatures come in all shapes and sizes and colors and some of them look different then we expect and they have different ways of living. But, he said, you have to give everyone a chance because if you don’t you miss out on some wonderful friends. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on getting to know Gaah-roomp. We all had so much fun playing with him.

Well, that’s it for this week. You’ll see me soon but not if I see you first.

Your friend,
Perley

_____________

Mouse Friend

Mouse Friend is Perley’s closest human friend. She is also known as Caroline D. Grimm, a famous author mouse in her own right. She is the author of the Guest Book: A Novel of Acadia, and the historical fiction series Voices of Pondicherry, books that tell the stories of interesting people who lived in Perley’s town many years ago.

Mouse Friend takes care of all of Perley’s Matters of Great Importance in the big wide world leaving him more time for writing stories and snacking.

 Copyright 2017 Lark's Haven Publishing Company