Tom is excited when the postman brings a package; it's the Random Mouse book "How to Catch a Mouse." Tom tries each chapter in succession: locating the mouse, the basic trap, the snare, being scientific, and preying on the mouse's curiosity. At each turn, Jerry uses the chapter's information better than Tom, so Tom turns to brute force: a mallet, a bear trap, a double-barreled shotgun, and a mountain of explosives. By the end, will the cat or the mouse have earned his eternal heavenly reward?