Midas Mouse

Midas Mouse becomes so enthralled with sunlight that he is given the power to turn anything he touches into gold.

Kindergarten-Grade 2-The Ellwands update the classic tale of King Midas, replacing the king with a mouse who yearns to be just like the sun. "I wish I were like the sun. I wish everything I touched would turn to gold." Once Midas's wish is granted, the rest of the text is fairly predictable. It is only when his mother chides him for turning everything into gold-"we cannot eat golden cheese or golden bread crumbs"-that the rodent realizes the error of his ways. He wishes upon silver moonbeams for everything to return to normal, and it does. Artistic black-and-white photographs bathed in flat sepia tones showcase a scampering white mouse whose tiny paws add gold touches to the photographs whenever he makes contact with an object. However, the pages have to be held at a certain angle for the gold to catch the light, reflect, and stand out. The final photographs are ensconced in shimmering silver backgrounds to signify the change from the sunbeams of day to luminescent moonlight. Overall, an interesting twist on a familiar tale.
Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Photographer David Ellwand (Alfred's Party) teams up with his wife, Ruth, for this whimsical twist on an age-old legend. Though his mother warns, "Daylight is dangerous for mice," Midas is irresistibly drawn out of his mousehole into the dazzling sunbeams which "sparkled on his fur like gold." He makes a wish that he could be like the sun, and "everything he touched with his four pink paws suddenly turned to hard, shiny gold." As Midas scampers through the house, he leaves a golden trail behind him, from teakettle to violin strings to the once-black cat. All that glitters isn't gold, however. "We cannot eat golden cheese or golden bread crumbs," scolds his mother, and Midas wishes "with all his tiny beating heart" that everything could be as it was before. Luckily, the moonlight dissolves the magic. The charm of this economically told tale lies in the black-and-white photographs, which Ellwand softens with sepia tones and gilds with gold touches where Midas leaves his trail. Close-ups of the bright-eyed and bewhiskered hero may well cause a run on mice at the pet store. All ages. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-7. An ordinary rodent acquires the golden touch in this elegant picture book. Against his mother's warnings, Midas Mouse leaves his hole to play in the sunbeams, as he has longed to do. "I wish I were like the sun," he says, and miraculously, his wish is granted: everything his paws touch turns to "hard, shiny gold"--the books, the clock, the violin strings, and the black housecat. But when he realizes that the cheese has become inedible gold, he wishes everything back to normal. As in The Big Book of Beautiful Babies (1996) and^B Emma's Elephant (1997), Ellwand's photos are stunning. Here, sepia images are set against dramatic backgrounds that sometimes overpower the text. But the images beautifully accent the mouse's golden trail, indicated in metallic paint--the mouse's subtle pawprints on the cat's forehead, for example. Filled with rich, visually descriptive words, the brief text will lead readers back to the captivating images, culminating in the cozy scene of Midas in his nest. A sleek, shimmering fantasy for mouse fans. Gillian Engberg
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