If what stayed with you was the wind-up duo’s aching desire to become self-winding—and the way their travels turn into a meditation on purpose, dependence, and hope—you’ll be moved by The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Like the mouse father and child, Edward is a cherished object cast adrift, reshaped by a succession of caretakers and losses until he learns what it means to love and be responsible for others. Where Manny Rat’s cruelty and the dream of the elephant and seal reveal how fragile and stubborn the heart can be, Edward’s odyssey gives that same bittersweet philosophy a luminous, tear-jerking payoff.

If you treasured the evolving bond between the mouse father and his child—clinging to one another through Manny Rat’s dump and beyond—The Wild Robot will hit the same note. Roz, a castaway robot, becomes an adoptive mother to a gosling and learns, as the mouse pair does, that love is built through small, perilous acts of care. The way the child in Hoban’s tale grows braver while the father learns to let him step forward is mirrored in Roz and Brightbill’s seasons together, culminating in sacrifices that make their family feel hard-won and true.

If the forward pull of the mice’s mission—to cross a dangerous world, escape Manny Rat, and claim a home where they can wind themselves—kept you turning pages, The Incredible Journey offers that same relentless momentum. Two dogs and a cat travel hundreds of miles through wilderness hazards with one unwavering objective: get back to their family. As with the mouse and his child, every obstacle clarifies what “home” means, and the final reunion delivers the kind of earned, emotional closure you’re likely craving.

If you delighted in how Hoban lets toys, tramps, and rats inhabit a world that tilts toward the surreal—where a muskrat’s wisdom can redirect a destiny—The Phantom Tollbooth turns that imaginative slant into a full-on romp. Milo’s trip through Dictionopolis and Digitopolis makes wordplay as concrete as Manny Rat’s junkyard empire, and each episode teases out meaning beneath whimsy. Like the mice’s odyssey toward becoming self-winding, Milo’s quest teaches him how to see and choose, wrapping big ideas in playful, unforgettable scenes.

If Manny Rat’s exploitative realm and the mice’s dream of a real family struck you as a parable about what matters, Momo carries that allegorical charge. The mysterious Grey Gentlemen steal people’s time the way Manny Rat steals agency, and Momo’s quiet bravery—like the mouse child’s stubborn hope—pushes back against a world that treats lives as resources. It’s a fable that, like The Mouse and His Child, pairs childlike wonder with sharp critique and closes on a note of tender, earned grace.