Quick Booktalk
With a big storm on the way, Mouse rushes to warn all of her animal friends and get them all to safety.
About the Illustrations
I love the way the illustrator uses texture in this book. The way she draws the animals' fur, and their clothes, the grass and rocks, the leaves and even the rain makes it feel like the reader could reach out and touch them. The animals' wide expressive eyes, anthropomorphic behaviors and cute outfits contrubute to a gentle, cozy feeling. The blues and browns of the sky and background also help to evoke the damp, cool quality of air during a storm.
Read-Aloud Possiblities
The simple rhyming lines of this story make it a natural choice to read aloud, especially with toddlers. There is a good variety of animals in the text, too, including creatures not often mentioned in children's books, like the skink and the caribou. Occasional wordless spreads of the animals huddled away from the storm also give kids the opportunity to provide their own commentaries and interpretations of what is happening. This book would work nicely for a weather, animals, or mice theme.
Readers Advisory
The structure of the story reminds me a little bit of the Bear books by Karma Wilson (Bear Snores On, etc.) I also found myself thinking of The Umbrella by Jan Brett.
Disclosure
I received a review copy of Mouse Calls from Beach Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.