Mouse Creeps

What can happen when one unknowing mouse ventures across a room? The 14 clever and deceptively simple rhymes in this book start with just a mouse stirring in a peaceful house. But the rhymes trace a chain of events that continue as a farmyard full of animals crashes through the fences, into a nearby field, and lands directly in the middle of two armies having a hillside battle. Full color.

PreSchool-Grade 2. Happenstance alters the course of history in this circular tale and it is the mouse on the title page that precipitates the events. "Dog sleeps. Mouse creeps." In response, a cat in pursuit of the mouse startles a horse, who upends a churn, which awakens the ducks, etc. Nearby, reluctant armies prepare to battle but the determined generals are thwarted by falling acorns and hungry pigs (the result of the preceding events, of course). No longer needed, a soldier returns home to the welcome of his family and to the peace of his cottage where "Dog sleeps. Mouse creeps." Told in a simple rhyme with two or three words per line, this tribute to pacifism effectively captures a broad range of human emotions and is leavened with humor and animal antics. The oil paintings add a great deal of storytelling detail to the minimal text, and the crisp layout enhances its simplicity. Plump and curvaceous shapes with sharply defined edges hint at surrealism but the overall effect is folksy and particularly appropriate to the tone of the story. Visual symbolism is employed throughout, such as the soldier's drum burning in the fireplace after his return home, and may be beyond the comprehension of young readers. However, anticipation of the lively consequences of successive events and the satisfying conclusion will entertain read-aloud audiences and beginning readers alike. A thoughtful topic for the picture-book crowd, handsomely and wittily presented.?Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3-5. Amazingly, Harris uses only about 50 words in this picture book but manages to tell not only a story but a darn good one at that. At the onset, a "dog sleeps and mouse creeps." What seems to be just another cumulative tale turns into much more as the actions of one animal after another snowball, until finally they affect the outcome of a battle in a nearby field. The book conveys a strong underlying message about the ludicrousness of war as the two generals slip on acorns, forcing the conflict to be called off: "Soldiers roar / end war." Cartwright's signature artwork, with bold shapes and colors, is rendered with precision throughout. And though the word count may be small, there is much detail in the art. In the last spread, a former soldier, now resuming his fatherly duties, holds his baby, and the mouse, which has set off so much trouble, creeps back to its hole. Ilene Cooper