Common Sense Media Review
Witty, wonderful bedtime reading.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Bedtime, bath time, and trips of all kinds have never been so fun: Sailboats get blown on top of houses, and wishing wells provide fancy clothes and double-dip ice cream cones. All the fantasy fun remains grounded in the real-world experiences of young children, so it's easy for them to relate to the story.
Is It Any Good?
Nearly every page of this collection is fresh and funny. The framed illustrations help establish the fairy tale-like setting of a house near the woods on a snowy night. The implicit dangers of the cold and unknown world outside are offset by the comforting presence of Papa Mouse in his bathrobe, polka-dotted pajamas, and bedroom slippers. Papa Mouse models loving behavior in the way he relates to his wife and children: He sees his children off to sleep and then joins his wife for a nice cup of tea before the fire.
The stories provide an excellent transition from the read-aloud stage to reading alone, giving this collection what one parent calls "a long shelf life." Parents will love reading these stories (and, later on, listening as their children read them) again and again.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the small lessons in each tale. How does the cloud-watching mouse's view change when his mother leaves? When she returns? Consider perspective in the story about the tall mouse and short mouse. Imagine being much taller than you are. How would the world look different? What might be the same?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Arnold Lobel
- Genre : Picture Book
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperCollins Children's Books
- Publication date : September 1, 1972
- Number of pages : 64
- Last updated : September 17, 2015
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