When you're a mouse, there are tons of things to be afraid of: Water. Time. Mean humans. Cats. Snakes. The Barn. The future. Oh yes, the list goes on and on. And don't forget about the humans in Secrets at Sea because they have some fears of their own. The Upstairs Cranstons can get pretty nervous about all these foreign English customs. Whether human or mouse, sometimes fear can be pretty debilitating in this book. In fact, the Cranston mice almost stay home in America because they're so afraid. But in the end, most of our characters overcome their fears. And this means they get to be courageous, which is way more fun than being a scaredy cat.
Questions About Fear
- What are the mice characters most afraid of? What about the human characters? Are they afraid of the same things?
- Do you think the mice ever get over their fear of water? How so? Or why not?
- How do the characters go from being afraid to being brave? Are there any characters that don't make this transition?
Chew on This
It's okay to be afraid at first. In this book, tons of characters are scared, but in the end they overcome all their fears.
Fear is a big problem. In this book, being afraid causes major issues for our mice and human characters.