1 2 3 Valentine's Day - Hardcover

Modesitt, Jeanne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1563978687 ISBN 13: 9781563978685

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press, 2002

Synopsis

It's Valentine's Day and Mister Mouse goes from house to house delivering Valentine gifts. From one little frog to ten little mice, Mister Mouse brightens everyone's day with two knocks on the door and a greeting of "Happy Valentine's!" Jeanne Modesitt's adorable counting book in rhyme is lovingly illustrated by Robin Spowart. The book also features simple, step-by-step instructions for making a Valentine's Day heart.

About this title

From Booklist:

PesS-Gr. 1. A charming celebration of a favorite holiday and sweetly soft illustrations are combined in this introduction to counting from one through ten. The fun of spreading love on Valentine's Day is described in simple verse as a mouse, nattily dressed in a dark pink suit with a salmon-colored vest and red tie, visits all his friends to present them with gifts; he visits one little frog, two round pigs, three big badgers, and so on. Each successive visit is marked by a number at the bottom of the page with a corresponding number of red hearts, which will help young children translate the meaning of the text into numerical terms. The last visit is particularly heartwarming; Mister Mouse visits "TEN little mice, so happy and glad, / Open the door and get toys from Dad." The subsequent spread, which has no text, shows the happy mouse family playing at home. Spowart's familiar, soft-focus, pastel-colored illustrations convey the sweet story with warmth and charm. Instructions for making cut-paper heart valentines are included. Diane Foote
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-In this rhyming counting book, Mister Mouse goes house to house distributing valentines to his animal friends. Almost a replica of their Little Bunny's Easter Surprise (S & S, 1999), 1 2 3 has the same characters rendered in the same style-colored-pencil artwork on illustration board-and format, down to the craft instructions on its final pages. Unfortunately, the author and illustrator have overlooked the abilities and needs of preschoolers. The characters to be counted, "whom you couldn't tell apart," as the text jovially points out, are indeed overlapping mirror images; it would take an exceptional preschooler to discern and enumerate them. Numbers refer to Mister Mouse's valentine recipients but the illustrations direct readers' attention toward the gifts and away from the numbers. The rhymes themselves are graceless and contrived. This sweet idea is diluted by a weak execution.
Liza Graybill, Worcester Public Library, MA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1563978687
• ISBN 13: 9781563978685
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Spowart Robin