PICTURE BOOK - A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E. B. White by Barbara Herkert

Illustrated by Lauren Castillo

2017 Henry Holt & Co. 

HC $18.99

40pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.29 - 318 ratings

My rating: 4.5

Endpapers" Bright lime green

1^st line/s:  
"When young Elwyn White
lay sick in bed,
a bold house mouse
befriended. him.
Elwyn made a home
for his companion.
If his mother knew,
she would not approve."

My comments:  This is a lovely, gentle picture book, as I picture E. B. White to be lovely and gentle. The three page author's note at the end are the perfect short biography for me.  What a great read-aloud picture book for kids to go along with the reading of Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web , or The Trumpet of the Swan.  I'm SO glad that kids are still reading these books today...published in 1945, 1952, and 1968 respectively! 

Goodreads:  A lyrical biography of E. B. White, beloved author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, written by Barbara Herkert and illustrated by Caldecott honoree Lauren Castillo.
          When young Elwyn White lay in bed as a sickly child, a bold house mouse befriended him. When the time came for kindergarten, an anxious Elwyn longed for the farm, where animal friends awaited him at the end of each day. Propelled by his fascination with the outside world, he began to jot down his reflections in a journal. Writing filled him with joy, and words became his world.
          Today, Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web are beloved classics of children’s literature, and E. B. White is recognized as one of the finest American writers of all time.
          A Christy Ottaviano Book

PICTURE BOOK - Robert's Snow by Grace Lin

Illustrated by the author

2004, Viking (OP, currently available used)
Bosler Library

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.02 - 51 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers:  Page divided into nine squares, set up like a tic-tac-toes board, large snowflakes ans the "tic" and numerous smaller snowflakes as the "tac."  Pale, pale blue and white.

Illustrations:  Most double page spreads have at least one, full-page edge-to-edge illustrations, very fun illustrations at that.

1^st line/s:  "Robert and his family lived in a house that lookes a bit like a shoe.  Really it was a boot, but Grandpa had made a lot of changes to it."

My comments: Robert loves the snow.  I don’t.  So with trepidation, I began reading this book.  It’s adorable and clever, and I got a brainstorm about a great activity that could go along with it that I think kids would love.  Robert and his very extended mouse family live in an old shoe that is falling apart.  When winter comes, to be warm and safe, they barricade themselves inside.  Their rooms are snug and tidy.  They use pill bottles and loose change, bottle caps and dice, toothpicks and empty spools, alphabet blocks and tiny pieces of fabric, postage stamps and tiny boxes, corks and buttons.. They eat jelly beans and nuts.  The story, although mostly about winter weather, includes a tiny, very clever bit about Santa, but I wouldn’t consider this a Christmas book, particularly, though it includes the idea of giving to others.  And after the reading aloud (some pages have a bit more text than others, but the book shouldn’t take too very long to read), kids could each be given a small box, a variety of “found items,” and create their own cozy little homes for mice.  Oh, what fun.

Goodreads:  "Too much snow," Grandpa Mouse grumbles.
"Snow is just trouble," scoffs Aunt Vicky.
"Small animals like us," Mum says, "don't like snow."

But Robert, the smallest mouse, knows he likes snow, even though he's never touched it. When he finally gets his wish to go outside and play in it, Robert is overjoyed. Snow is wonderful! That is, until he can't find his way home. Is there anyone who can help him? There is, and even though little Robert doesn't recognize his rescuer, readers will--because it's . . . Santa!

19. Mouse Scouts by Sarah Dillard

1st in a series
Library Book
2016, Alfred A. Knopf
118 pgs.
Fantasy - Anthropomorphism - Early Chapter Book
Finished 4-2-17
Goodreads rating:  3.67 - 123 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary anywhere, USA

First line/s:  "Violet placed her acorn cap on her head.  It made her forehead itch and her ears stick out, but that didn't matter!"

My comments:  There are three reasons that I really like this beginning chapter book.  First, it's about mice that are scouts....every Daisy and Brownie in the US can relate to this, the song, the pledge, the handbook, the uniform (including the acorn hat!).  Second, at the end of each chapter are step-step directions...for kids....about how to go about beginning and growing a garden, including taking care of pests!  It's like a nonfiction book written in fiction form.  I'm not a nonfiction lover, but would sit down to read this informative book in a second as a kid.  And third, I love some of the language that Sarah Dillard uses.  Although written for really young kids, she uses words that can be understood just from the context of the sentence in which they're written.  Looking forward to reading another in this series to see whether she follows the same format, because it's wonderful.

Goodreads synopsis:  Meet Violet, Tigerlily, Hyacinth, Petunia, Junebug, and Cricket, six new Mouse Scouts who are trustworthy and strong, thrifty and brave . . . and destined to be friends to the end! Best friends Violet and Tigerlily can’t wait to start earning their merit badges. But their troop leader, Miss Poppy, is one strict rodent. And earning their first badge—planting a vegetable garden—is hard work. Will the troop drive unwanted pests from the garden and earn their Sow It and Grow It badge? And will they ever get Miss Poppy to smile? 

54. Following Grandfather - Rosemary Wells

illustrated by Christopher Denise
2012, Candlewick Press
HC $14.99
58 pages
not really an Early Reader, more of a read aloud, I think....
Goodreads rating:  3.46
cag:  3.5 (the writing is gorgeous, much of the storyline is exquisite, but the premise of her "seeing" her grandfather a couple of times after his death almost seemed thrown in....some changes here would have made it a 5 for me.....

Setting: mid-20th century Boston
First Line/s:  "Down at the very end of Revere Beach, where the people never go, the mice of Boston spread their towels and plant their beach umbrellas in the sun.  Grandfather and I were among them every summer Sunday."

Ah, the snobbish Henry Cabot Lodge and Saltonstall mice, the Swan boats and other Boston locales, the truly lovely writing....just wonderful.  Yummy vocabulary, some even unknown to me (which isn't saying much, believe me)....ummmm, crenallated?  What a cool word.  However, this is a simple book written in large font, looking like the perfect book for an early reader.  Wrong.  This is one to be read aloud.  I'm going to do just that to my fourth graders and will add comments afterwards.

Horace and Morris Say Cheese (which makes Dolores sneeze!) - James Howe

Illustrated by Amy Walrod

Ginee Seo Books (Atheneum) 2009

$16.99

Rating: 4

Endpapers: Dark aqua

The title of this book doesn't work. Dolores is getting shortchanged - this is her book, not Morris'! I'd have kids give it a better title. Kids frequently have a tough time coming up with an appropriate, catchy title - so this would make for a great writing lesson.

It's also full of alliteration, rhyme, dialogue boxes, a great story, and all-color pages. And the characters are all...mice.

Dolores loves loves loves cheese - any kind of cheese - but becomes very allergic to it. It's difficult to find replacements for cheese, and she keeps slipping back, which makes her break out in a horrible rash. She finally discovers that if she tries different combinations of cheeseless food, she's all set. Cute story written in a clever way. And kids will love the illustrations. I do.

"Horace and Morris but mostly Dolores loved to eat cheese. They ate string chees and Swiss chesse on Sundays. Thet ate Muenster with mustard on Mondays."

Library Mouse - A Friend's Tale - Daniel Kirk

Published: 2009
$15.95
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Aqua

I love Daniel Kirk! His illustrations - his plotlines - his themes. The whole enchilada.

Picture book illustrators often do not get to meet the writers of the book they're illustrating (I well remember the story of Cynthia Rylant hating the Caldecott-Award-winning illustrations in When I Was Young in the Mountains) Daniel Kirk has created a story of libraries, and books, and writing, and friendhip - and the collaboration of a picture book where the writer (Sam, the mouse) and the illustrator (Tom, a boy and library patron) do not meet.

Tom does discover that the library's secret book writer is Sam, a mouse, but he keeps the secret that Sam is a mouse and they create a wonderful book without ever meeting eye to eye. Very cute. I would recommend reading the previous book, (Library Mouse), first.

The full page mouse/boy/library illustrations are TERRIFIC!

Library Mouse - Daniel Kirk

For: Kids
Pub: 2007
Rating: 5/5
Read Aug. 12, 2008

Libraries are some of my most favorite places anywhere, and the library where Sam, our protagonist, lives makes a colorful, happy setting for this story.

Sam lives in a hole in the wall behind the children's reference section in what I'm guessing is a rural library. Each night after the library is closed and silent, he creeps out and reads. He samples every genre. His imagination brims over with new ideas until one night he decides to write a book of his own. He folds litle squares of paper into a book and writes aobut what he knows - being a mouse. He branches out night after night, writing, illustrating, creating, then leaving the tiny books on the library shelves for the children to find and read. The children, as well as the librarian, love his books, love them so much that they want to MEET the author! What's a mouse to do?

What Sam decides to do is clever and creative and will encourage any child who reads this books to write one of their own.

The illustrations are marvelous. Colorful. Bold. Detailed. Sam's face has more character than any mouse I can rememaber in a picture book. Every two page spread contains a full-page, edge-to-edge masterpiece. The large, bold font - a great choice - is easy to read and great to look at.

This is a perfect gift for a kid; a box containing the book, assorted 4, 8, and 12 page premade folded books, a few cool pencils and a box of crayons or colored pencils.

This is going to be a favorite!