The Mouse Who Carried a House on His Back

Celebrated artist Isabelle Arsenault joins forces with author Jonathan Stutzman for an enchanting tale about the expansive power of generosity.

Vincent was a mouse with boots on his feet, a hat on his head, and a house on his back.

When an ordinary spot on a grassy hill calls out to him, Vincent puts down the house he carries on his back and knows he’s where he needs to be. As hungry and tired travelers pass by, Vincent welcomes them into his home, making room for everyone. And even when it seems that the house is as full as it possibly can be, there is no woodland animal so big or so scary—not a ravenous cat, nor a fox, nor a whole herd of deer—that Vincent would turn it away from his warm, magical home on the hill. Jonathan Stutzman’s charming voice is enhanced by the elegant, inventive die-cut art of three-time Governor General’s Award winner Isabelle Arsenault in this classic tale of a generous little mouse with a special house and an ever-expanding heart.

Jonathan Stutzman is the author of several picture books, including Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug, illustrated by Jay Fleck; Llama Destroys the World, illustrated by Heather Fox; and The Night Is for Darkness, illustrated by Joseph Kuefler. Jonathan Stutzman lives in Pennsylvania.

Isabelle Arsenault is an acclaimed illustrator whose work has achieved international recognition and won many awards, including the Governor General's Literary Award. She was short-listed for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2020 and was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2021. She is the illustrator of Just Because by Mac Barnett, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year, Captain Rosalie by Timothée de Fombelle, and many others. Isabelle Arsenault lives in Montreal.