The Mice in Council

A fable retold from Fifty Famous Fables

This fable comes from Fifty Famous Fables, a 1917 collection retold by Lida B. McMurry, drawing on the Aesop tradition. The mice face a problem every small creature knows: how to stay safe from a predator. Their meeting and the bell plan are famous, but the story's power is in the question no one wants to answer. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The fable asks children to think about the difference between a good idea and a brave action.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 346 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fifty Famous Fables, Lida B. McMurry · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.