Fun with Mrs. Thumb

Mrs. Thumb, an elegant wooden doll, lives quietly in her furnished dollhouse until, one day, a boisterous, mischievous cat decides to play with her.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Bayley's distinctive miniature style illuminates Mark's rhyming story told in a cat's voice-cunning, slightly sinister, and very feline. Kitty comes to play bounce and pounce with Mrs. Thumb, a fastidious wooden lady who lives in a cluttered Victorian doll house. The plucky woman stands up bravely to the cat's swipes, although she is tossed about in a most unladylike fashion, and her tiny furnishings are put in disarray. There is a nice counterpoint created between the narrator's personality and Mrs. Thumb's silent and sweet demeanor. Indeed, her coy expression will make readers wonder how distressed she really is by all this attention-is she truly relieved when her mistress comes to rescue her and give kitty his dinner? This ambiguity is part of the book's charm. The artist's super-realistic rendering of detail, texture, and perspective and her use of visual jokes in these small watercolor illustrations are remarkable. A little gem.
Linda Wicher, Highland Park Public Library, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This small gem of a picture book is narrated by a mischievous cat looking for fun with the wooden inhabitant of a doll's house. As the book opens Mrs. Thumb sits demurely in her living room, an afternoon of sewing and reading planned. Then a huge, sharply clawed paw crashes through a window and sends her sprawling. The paw pursues the hapless Mrs. Thumb, who descends the stairs head-over-heels and ducks in vain for cover beneath the kitchen table. These antics are recounted with the utmost glee--"Off you go! Bumpety-bumpety-bump. I love this game"--while Mrs. Thumb is illustrated upside down, legs flailing. The jaunty text has a sly sense of humor ("Now someone's come to rescue you. Unfair! Unfair!") which captures Puss's teasing nature. Exquisite design showcases Bayley's rich, glowing illustrations, which recline in frames while a tiny motif adapted from each painting is reproduced to decorate the text. Minutely detailed artwork captures all the clutter and charm of a doll's house. A delightful book in doll-sized format. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-7. "Dear Mrs. Thumb, come out to play. See what I have brought today: my lovely fur, my lovely purr, my lovely paws, full of claws." Thus, in singsong, disjointed verse, the wily ginger cat teases and taunts the wooden lady doll, all the while stalking, pouncing, and wreaking havoc upon her prettily perfect dollhouse. In charming, jewel-like illustrations that draw the eye, Bayley provides a cat's-eye view of the playful assault and resulting chaos. The illustrator of The Mousehole Cat (1990), Bayley has used the same exquisitely detailed and finely textured style to create a vision that is a treasure in miniature. Both doll and cat lovers will delight in this small adventure. Annie Ayres