Writing Exercise: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Other Fantastic Tales

Looking for a fun writing activity, prompt, or exercise? If you've ever read one of Laura Numeroff's books from her famous "mouse series," then you'll know exactly how to do this exercise. I love the entire series by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond:

• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
• If You Give a Moose a Muffin
• If You Give a Cat a Cupcake
• If You Give a Pig a Pancake
• If You Take a Mouse to School
• If You Give a Dog a Donut
• If You Give a Mouse a Brownie
• If You Give a Pig a Party

But today, I give you a list of *new* potential titles for a fun writing exercise.

Circular Tales

The idea behind a circular tale is that the story ends where it began. In If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the boy gives a cookie to a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk. He then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair in the mirror), and a broom (to sweep up his hair trimmings). Next he wants to take a nap, have a story read to him, draw a picture, and hang the drawing on the refrigerator. Looking at the refrigerator makes him thirsty, so the mouse asks for a glass of milk. The circle is complete when he wants a cookie to go with it. Now let's see if you can do it too!

Writing Prompts

My daughter and I were being silly one day and inadvertently stumbled upon creating this list for the universe to enjoy. Even if you write YA fantasy, or adult romance novels, you can still benefit creatively from this exercise of creating a circular tale. Try it! You just might like it, Sam-I-Am.

Choose a "title" to prompt your writing for the day. Have fun!

1. If you give a bear a biscuit, he'll want some honey to go with it. (My personal favorite!)
2. If you give a frog a fritter, he'll want some fruit to go with it.
3. If you give a dog a donut, he'll want a belly rub to go with it.
4. If you give a zebra zucchini, he'll want some salt to go with it.
5. If you give a cow some candy, he'll want a costume to go with it.
6. If you give an octopus an orange, he'll want to juice it.
7. If you give a snake a sucker, he'll want another one to go with it.
8. If you give a fox a flapjack, he'll want molasses to go with it.
9. If you give a fish a funnel cake, he'll want strawberries to go with it.
10. If you give a toad some taffy, he'll want to a friend to go with it.
11. If you give a lobster a lollipop, he'll want a song to go with it.
12. If you give a chick some cheesecake, she'll want some cherries to go with it.
13. If you give an ape an apple, he'll want some peanut butter to go with it.
14. If you give a horse a hamburger, he'll want some cheese to go with it.
15. If you give a shark some sherbet, he'll want a bowl to go with it.
16. If you give a sheep some sugar, she'll want some kisses to go with it.
17. If you give a wolf a waffle, he'll want some berries to go with it.
18. If you give a yak some yogurt, she'll want some granola to go with it.
19. If you give a pelican some pie, she'll want some pecans to go with it.
20. If you give a pet a pickle, she'll want some ice cream to go with it.
21. If you give a goat a grapefruit, he'll want some sugar to go with it.
22. If you give a spider some spaghetti, she'll want some sauce to go with it.
23. If you give a bug some bubble gum, he'll want some music to go with it.
24. If you give a mole a milkshake, he'll want some whipped cream to go with it.
25. If you give a rat some Root Beer, he'll want some ice cream to go with it.
26. If you give a jellyfish some Jell-O, he'll want a jellybean to go with it.
27. If you give a sloth some salsa, he'll want some chips to go with it.
28. If you give a slug a smoothie, he'll want a straw to go with it.
29. If you give a skunk a sweet potato, he'll want some cinnamon to with it.
30. If you give a squid some sushi, he'll want some chopsticks to go with it.
31. If you give a seal some strudel, he'll want some icing to go with it.
32. If you give a hummingbird some hummus, she'll want some veggies to go with it.
33. If you give a bunny some veggies, she'll want some hummus to go with it.
34. If you give an elephant a peanut, he'll want the circus to go with it.
35. If you give an elf a hat, he'll want Christmas to go with it.

Got another prompt? Even if it has nothing to do with animals... Share in the comments!

If you give a teacher some chalk... 
If you give a runner some shoes... 
If you give a writer a pencil...

Keep on keepin' on...

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