Anatole is the title character in a series of children's

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

written by

Eve Titus Eve Titus (July 16, 1922 – February 4, 2002) was an American children's writer. She is particularly known for her books featuring the anthropomorphic mice characters Anatole, a heroic and resourceful French mouse, and Basil of Baker Street, ...

and illustrated by Paul Galdone. "Anatole" is also the name of the series. The ten books were originally published from 1956 to 1979. Two books in the series, ''Anatole'' in 1957, and ''Anatole and the Cat'' in 1958, were named

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

books.

Plot

Anatole the

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

lives in a mouse village outside the city of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. One day, while commuting by bicycle to forage for food, he overhears some humans complaining about mice as

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

s. Deeply aggrieved at the insult to his honor, Anatole resolves to do better. He goes to work in a French

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

factory as a taster and evaluator of the cheese. Working alone and anonymously late at night, he leaves notes to guide the cheesemakers in their work. His taste for good cheese leads to the factory's commercial success and to his

murine The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families excep ...

fame to such an extent that Anatole is regularly hailed as a "mouse magnifique" by

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

contemporaries. The factory's human owners and workers also hold his work in high esteem, although they have no idea that the mysterious Anatole is a mouse, believing him simply an eccentric cheese

connoisseur A connoisseur (French language, French Reforms of French orthography, traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge ...

who prefers to work alone. In these works the author, through the character of Anatole, consistently places emphasis on the

dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Enlightenment- ...

of work. Anatole lives in a conventional

nuclear family A nuclear family (also known as an elementary family, atomic family, or conjugal family) is a term for a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single ...

, married to the beautiful and supportive Doucette and with six lovely children.

Television series

The stories have also been used for an

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

studios and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Alphanim Gaumont Animation (formerly known as Alphanim and Gaumont Alphanim) is a French animation studio owned by Gaumont founded in February 1997 by Christian Davin. The company's animated catalog comprises over 800 half-hours, broadcast in over 130 ...

. The 26-episode series originally aired on America's

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

network in 1998, and was rerun on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

from 2001 until 2004. Previously, in 1966, there was an animated segment based on the books for the cult film ''

Alice of Wonderland in Paris ''Alice of Wonderland in Paris'' or ''Alice in a New Wonderland'' is a 1966 animated film directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder in extreme limited animation. Plot Young Alice, having become a celebrity for her adventures in ...

''.

Stage show

In 2014, "Anatole" and "Anatole and the Cat" were combined and adapted into a successful

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

with book and

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

co-authored by John Maclay and Lee Becker, and with music by

James Valcq James Valcq (born 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and librettist, as well as an actor and arts administrator. He contributed to various theatrical works. Education Valcq holds a BFA from the U ...

First Stage Children's Theater The First Stage Children's Theater is a professional American children's theater based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, founded in 1987. Its season consists of six "mainstage" shows, two shows for very young audiences, and two shows from its award-winni ...

premiered the show in February 2014, and it was met with great commercial and critical success.

Anatole series

* ''Anatole'' (1956) * '' Anatole and the Cat'' (1957) * ''Anatole and the Robot'' (1960) * ''Anatole over Paris'' (1961) * ''Anatole and the Poodle'' (1965) * ''Anatole and the Piano'' (1966) * ''Anatole and the Thirty Thieves'' (1969) * ''Anatole and the Toyshop'' (1970) * ''Anatole in Italy'' (1973) * ''Anatole and the Pied Piper'' (1979)

References

External links