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 images ...

written by Eve Titus and illustrated by

Paul Galdone Paul Galdone (June 2, 1907 – November 7, 1986) was an illustrator and writer known best for children's picture books. Early life He was born in Budapest and he emigrated to the United States in 1921. He studied art at the Art Student ...

. "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 Servic ...

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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. 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" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

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 dairy product produced in wide ranges 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 product ...

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 ex ...

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 lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

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 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 about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator o ...

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

dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

of work. Anatole lives in a conventional

nuclear family A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is 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-parent family, the la ...

, 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 from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Found ...

studios and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Alphanim Gaumont Animation (formerly known as Alphanim) is a French animation studio. It was acquired by Gaumont Film Company in 2008 as a return to television production, and an entry into English-language productions, after Gaumont Television was sold ...

. The 26-episode series originally aired on America's CBS network in 1998, and was rerun on the Disney Channel 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 Czech-American 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 a ...

''.

Stage show

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

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

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 Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, 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 ...

. First Stage Children's Theater 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