Once a Mouse

This afternoon I read Once a Mouse by Marcia Brown. It's a story about a hermit who changes a mouse into a cat and then into a dog and then into a tiger....each time the mouse changes, he becomes more and more vain and proud.

This story is originally from the Indian Hitopadesha which is a book of short stories about morality and knowledge. These stories always use animals as the main characters.

Marcia Brown has retold the story using wood cuttings...which creates really neat illustrations. In 1962, Once a Mouse won a Caldecott Medal for these wonderful wood cuttings. Very neat!

My Quick Thoughts:

Though the woodcuts are great, this books was not fun for me to read to my kids...the place where the sentences were broken and then finished after the page turn really drove me nuts. I really loved how the hermit protected the little mouse at the beginning...he took the mouse in his hand and twisted his hand around so that the cat would not get the mouse...how tender! The message was a good one and the book was fine...not going on my "must read" list though....sorry Mrs.Brown...your woodcuts rock though!!

Twig

A couple of nights ago, I finished reading a wonderfully delightful book to Belle. It is called Twig and was written by Elizabeth Orton Jones, a writer and illustrator of several children’s books. Belle absolutely loved the story but more than anything, she loved the illustrations. I have to agree with her…they were the kind of illustrations that make you smile! I was originally drawn to the book because of the sweet illustration of Twig on the front cover. I had no idea we were going to be jumping into a story that was both magical and full of many opportunities to talk about “life lessons”.

Twig is a story about a normal little girl who lived in the city. The backyard was her world and the birds, an old ice wagon horse and a cat were her friends. One afternoon she finds a tomato can and thinks it would make a wonderful home for a fairy. So she turns it over and places it by the one and only dandelion in the backyard.

A bit later in the day, Mrs. Sparrow brings an elf to meet Twig and that’s when all the fun begins!

Because both Belle and I loved this neat little book, we’ve decided to read Jones’ other books too! We’ll be reading Big Susan next…

Here’s the list we’re going to read through….

Children’s Books Written and Illustrated

Ragman of Paris and His Ragamuffins, Oxford University Press, 1937.

Minnie the Mermaid (with Thomas Orton Jones), Oxford University Press, 1939.

Maminka’s Children, Macmillan, 1940, reissued, 1968.

Twig, Macmillan, 1942, reissued, 1966.

Big Susan, Macmillan, 1947, reissued, 1967.

Little Red Riding Hood (reteller), Simon & Schuster, 1948.

How Far Is It to Bethlehem?, Horn Book, 1955.