If You Give A Mouse A Cookie : 2005 Wall Calendar

Rating:
Summary: Cookie cookie cookie starts with C
Review: "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" really has been the "It" book for some time. Parents love this story, and their children really get into it as well. On and off, I'd heard various things about it, but nothing that so sparked my interest that I ran to my nearest library to peruse its pages. Now, however, I've grown old and wise in the ways of kiddie lit. and I found myself wanting to know what all the fuss was about. Was this book really as overwhelmingly fantastic as everyone said? Was I doomed to fall desperately in love with it like 98% of the population of known Western Civilization? The answer is a resounding yes yes yes. I had counted on finding some mild enjoyment with a fun story. Was I got was extreme enjoyment from a sly, understated, exceedingly clever story.

As we open, a small mouse treks down a hill on its own as a boy contentedly reads his comic book, munching on a bag of delicious chocolate chip cookies. After the boy offers the mouse a cookie (not knowing what such an action has wrought) the mouse asks for milk. Milk leads to a napkin. A napkin leads to a mirror (to check for a milk mustache, of course). A mirror leads to a hasty haircut. A haircut leads to sweeping up. And so on. All the while the boy gamely follows his rodent friend over, around, and through the different parts of the house, ever supplying the guest with whatsoever it may require. By the end, the house is in shambles, the boy exhausted on the floor (parents will relish this picture above all) and the mouse has just started in on a second cookie.

Some books expertly place kids in the position of their parents. In the picture book, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus", kids are allowed to finally tell someone (the someone in that instance being a naughty pigeon) no. In this book, the kids are now the patient parents, forever cleaning up and amusing the endlessly enthusiastic and hepped-up mousey. The pictures are deceptively simple, drawn with pure pen and ink. Just the same, millions of tiny details are apparent in every shot. The boy's refrigerator displays (oddly) a newspaper clipping of a car crash. The mouse's drawing of his family displays some pretty original dresses on his mother and sister. And I'll leave up to your imagination the variety of odds n' ends surrounding the depleted boy at the end of the story. Suffice to say, ladies and gentlemen, this book has it all. And it's a delightful story to boot.

Rating:
Summary: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
Review: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie is a funny and amusing little story. It is abtou how one little energetic mouse has so much fun in one day that he can not make up his mind what to do next. It tells how one littl thing can lead to a hol mess of fun things to do. It also has cause and effect throughout this enitre story. A litle mouse makes a boy get him a glass of milk and read to him and also make him a bed. But he never seemd to finish any thing he starts. This has been my favorite childrens book of all time. It also has cute pictures of what he is up to and great facil expresions. I would definetly recamend this.

Rating:
Summary: A loveable mouse and some nonsensical logic makes for fun!
Review: So here's the thing about mice: they're needy. The power-packed little rodent might ask you for a cookie, but once you give him one: look out! Because first he'll need milk, then a straw to drink the milk, and of course, a napkin... and oh, the places that little mouse will take you from there. Exhausting a little boy with these wonderful nonsensical leaps of "if...then" is just one part of the joy of this book.

Adults will love the fun of it - this is not a book you're going to tire of quickly. Kids will love the antics of the mouse just as much, and the wonderful illustrations are a blast (when the Mouse realizes he's thirsty, there's a fabulous image of him holding his throat, tongue out, in melodramatic mousey style).

This is one of the best childrens books I've come across in a long time, and I've picked up the rest of the Numeroff series since. If you can, nab this one as the "mini book and stuffed animal" gift set - having a little mouse of your own (with cookie) is definitely worth the extra cost.

'Nathan