Mouse Party

Moving into an empty house and planning a big party, Mouse is surprised when an indignant Elephant arrives and claims that the house is his, and in order for the party to succeed, both animals must cooperate.

Kindergarten-Grade 1?In Durant's lively tale, Mouse happens upon a large empty house, moves in, then decides he's lonely. He invites over all his friends, each of whom arrives with something in tow, e.g. "...Hare with a chair, Owl with a towel, Giraffe with a bath..." At the height of the party, Elephant returns home from vacation and is angry to find his house occupied, but joins the fun when Mouse convinces him that the merriment is in his honor. At dawn, the guests leave and Elephant decides that there's room enough for both him and Mouse. The simple rhyming text is inviting to beginning readers, but the pen-and-ink and bold watercolor illustrations are too busy and confusing for preschool audiences. Many of the double-page spreads show both exterior scenes depicting the animals arriving and the cumulative chaos that ensues indoors. This makes the book better suited for independent reading than as a read-aloud choice. For a more engaging, less confounding romp, check out Matt Novak's Elmer Blunt's Open House (Orchard, 1992).?Christina Dorr, Calcium Primary School, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

After moving into a rather large, deserted house, Mouse feels lonely and decides to have a party. His friends arrive one by one via a variety of vehicles-and carrying an assortment of objects: "The first to arrive were Cat with a mat and Dog with a log. Then came Hare with a chair, Owl with a towel, Giraffe with a bath, Hen with a pen...." But after the guests assemble, they hear a loud knock at the door. It opens to reveal a elephant returning from vacation, who announces that the house belongs to him. Assuming the party is for him, he joins in the revelry and, after the party-goers depart, amiably remarks to his new pal (who perches on Elephant's trunk), "I think, little Mouse, perhaps it's true, there's room for us both in this house, don't you?" With its intermittent rhyme and genial characters, Durant's (Snake Supper) cheerful text has undeniable appeal. Yet the real attention-grabber is Heap's (Town Parrot) busy, buoyant art. Her full-page watercolor-and-ink pictures keep the guests-and even inanimate objects-in constant, comical motion.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3^-6. Here's a way to have fun with wordplay that gets it just right for the audience. When Mouse finds an empty house, he takes it as his own and decides to have a party. Enter a cat with a mat, a dog with a log, and an owl with a towel. The text is clever, but it's Heap who does a splendid job of turning the nonsense into visual excitement. A top-of-the-page border shows each new arrival; the rest of the page gives an inside view of what happens when the visitor arrives. The vibrant watercolors outlined in ink are a jumble of fun, and when the house's actual owner, a lumbering elephant, appears, the proceedings get even wilder. An energetic offering that has Party! written all over it. Ilene Cooper