Tuesday Storytime: Mice

Found a really cute book while selecting storytime reads called Busy Little Mouse, by Eugenie Fernandes, with clay-sculpt illustrations by Kim Fernandes, and so I decided to pair it with a couple of other cute mouse books for an easy theme.

Busy Little Mouse

Eugenie Fernandes, illustrated by Kim Fernandes

ISBN: 1550747789

Clay-sculpt illustrations, farms, animal sounds.

The story isn't technically about the mouse - it jumps from him pretty quickly over to a page-by-page handover of different barnyard animals.  Each is introduced through interactions with the previous, and each page ends with a "what does the little (insert animal) say?" which is great for a first story, as the kids can be interactive and bouncy and slowly settle into listening mode.  The illustrations however, do have the mouse tagging along with each animal switchover, and the story concludes with him going home to bed after his busy day.

Whose Mouse are You?

Robert Kraus, illustrated by Jose Aruego

ISBN: 0689840527

1970s Library of Congress and ALA notable book, yellow/orange naive illustrations.

This is one of those "classic" picture books that I feel I ought to like more than I actually do.  Not that I dislike it, but I don't get the cult love that many have for it.  That said, it is a classic, it is a cute little short story, and it fit well here.  Readers get a little mouse "Nobody's mouse" because his mom has been eaten by the cat, his dad is in a trap, his sister far from home, and brother is nonexistent.  Sparked into action, he saves his mother, father, sister, and wishes for a brother, and then the last third shows him happily belonging with each of his relatives, including the teeny tiny newborn brother.

I Miss You Mouse

Greg Foley

ISBN: 9780670012381

Lift-the-flap "search" story.

I love Greg Foley.  His stories are so cute and sweet and simple and nice.  This one is no exception - mouse gets a lovely note from Bear, and goes looking for him, because she has something important to tell him.  Lift-the-flaps hide animals in various environments - leaf piles, rocks, pond - where animals who are not Bear inform the mouse she has to keep searching, until she goes home at the end of the day to find Bear there, and tell him her important news (and give him a sweet lift-the-flap-wrapped present).