Once a Mouse
1961 picture book by Marcia Brown
Once a Mouse is a 1961 children's picture book by Marcia Brown. Released by Scribner Press, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1962, the second time Brown received that honor.
Plot
Once a Mouse is a magical Indian fable that tells the story of a small mouse and a hermit that knows how to change animals into something else. One day the hermit is sitting under a tree when suddenly he sees a little, helpless mouse that is going to be eaten by a cat. The hermit decides to change the mouse into a cat. Later the old man sees the cat afraid of a dog and changes the cat into a dog. The next day the hermit sees a tiger trying to eat the dog and decides to change the dog into a majestic tiger. As the days pass, the majestic tiger begins to think that he is the king of the place and that all the animals must respect him including the old hermit. One day the hermit reminds the tiger that he is really a mouse and that he should not be acting the way he is acting. The tiger feels so angry that he decides to eat the hermit, but he does not know that the old man is able to read thoughts.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Once a Mouse” as 1961 picture book by Marcia Brown. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1961 picture book by Marcia Brown. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7091904. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961 and 1962.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Once a Mouse”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Once a Mouse primary sources, Once a Mouse archive and Once research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Once a Mouse”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Once a Mouse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.