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Mrs. Marlowe's Mice

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Meet Mrs. Eleanor Marlowe, a young widow who lives in an apartment by herself -- not counting the extended family of mice who secretly live with her. Harboring mice is a very serious offense in Cat City. Why would a mild-mannered widow run such a risk? The neighbors wonder why Mrs. Marlowe never invites anyone over for catnip tea. Her secret little friends are beginning to wonder about their host, too. So fine is the cheese she serves that some of Mrs. Marlowe's mice wonder if she's fattening them up for the kill. One day, officers from the Department of Catland Security show up at Mrs. Marlowe's door, demanding to search the premises. Can this crafty feline outwit the police and save her mice from certain doom? Is Mrs. Marlowe the mouse-sympathizer she appears to be? Or is she really a mouse-hungry monster stocking her larder with fresh mice?

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2007

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About the author

Frank Asch

106 books102 followers
Frank Asch is an American children's writer, best known for his Moonbear picture books.

Asch published his first picture book, George's Store, in 1968. The following year he graduated from Cooper Union with a BFA. Since then he has taught at a public school in India, as well as at a Montessori school in the United States, conducted numerous creative workshops for children. He has written over 60 books, including Turtle Tale, Mooncake, I Can Blink and Happy Birthday Moon. In 1989 he wrote Here Comes the Cat! in collaboration with Vladimir Vagin. The book was awarded the Russian National Book Award and was considered the first Russian-American collaboration on a children's book.

Asch lived in Somerville, New Jersey where he and his wife home-schooled their son Devin.

He currently lives in Vermont with his wife, Jan.

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5 stars
32 (27%)
4 stars
53 (45%)
3 stars
30 (25%)
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2 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Sandra Deaconu.
809 reviews127 followers
February 7, 2019
Mie mi s-a părut prea scurtă. Nu pricep de ce sunt atât de scurte astfel de povești. Aceeași problemă am avut-o și cu drăgălașa Mortina. Și mă mai sâcâie ceva: poliția este reprezentată aici ca fiind ceva rău și invaziv, iar unul dintre agenți uită de ce a venit acolo, când Eleanor se oferă să-i dea flori pentru soția lui. Acum noi, adulții, știm cum stă treaba în multe cazuri, dar zic să aibă și copiii șansa de a vedea singuri realitatea și să nu fie speriați, așa cum ne speriau pe noi în copilărie cu replici de genul ,,te fură țiganii cu căruța'' sau ,,te ia poliția dacă nu mănânci toate legumele astea'' (scârboase). Copiii nu vor face legătura cu Holocaustul la acea vârstă și nu vor sesiza aluzia, așa că s-ar putea să întrebe ce are nenea polițistul cu biata pisică. Dacă găsiți o explicație drăgălașă, cartea e chiar drăguță. Cel puțin, așa mi s-a părut mie și nu cred că e de vină faptul că e o pisică pe-acolo. E un fel de Lista lui Schindler, varianta pisicească pentru copii. Cam atât despre carte. Iubiți pisicile! Recenzia aici: https://sandradeaconu.blogspot.com/20....
Profile Image for D'ale lui Damian.
1,066 reviews26 followers
June 17, 2022
#cartipentrucopii
#recomandare
Editura Corint
Corint Junior
#vârstă6+

Șoriceii doamnei Marlow-Frank Asch & Devin Asch

📖 O minunată fabulă ce poate fi prezentată/citită copiilor începând cu vârsta de 6 ani, o minunată carte introductivă despre Holocaust, o carte ce sunt convinsă că o să reveniți asupra ei, atunci când copiii dezbat la școală acest subiect.

🐈‍⬛Acțiunea cărții are loc în Ținutul Pisicilor, unde inimoasa bibliotecară Elenor Marlowe, ascunde o mare familie de șoareci, punându-și viața în pericol.

Întorcându-se de la bibliotecă, după o zi istovitoare de muncă, este nevoită să-și "odihnească lăbuțele obosite" la o ceașcă de ceai de iarba-mâței, alături de curioasa, suspicioasa doamnă Godfrey. Aceasta este nemulțumită că nu a vizitat niciodată casa pisicuței Marlowe. Reușește să scape de suspiciunile acesteia, motivând că ar fi o gospodină groaznică, în al cărui apartament domnește dezordinea.

😼😾Ajunsă în ordonata sa casă, în timp ce le pregătea masa de seară familiei numeroase de șoricei, sunt vizitați de locotententul Manx și sergentul Baxter, 2 polițiști din Securitate, datorită plângerii unui vecin privind tăinuirea de șoareci.

Isteața pisicuță reușește cu brio să răspundă întrebărilor acestora privind bucățele prea mici de cascaval și hăinuței mici croșetate. Exact când cei doi polițiști se pregăteau de plecare, Billie Joe alunecă pe gresie, iar zgomotul gherutelor sale nu scapă nesesizat de urechile vigilente ale polițiștilor.

Ei, acum cred că și voi ați fost siguri că a fost prinsă, dar doamna Marlowe motivând "că a scăpat gustarea din cămară " se înfruptă cu cel ce trebuia sa fie "dovada" arestării ei, și astfel reușește să scape și polițiștii pleacă, deoarece o "tăinuitoare de șoareci n-ar mânca niciodată un șoarece ", bineînțeles nu înainte de a o ameninta verbal că "sunt cu ochii pe ea"

🐀Nici noi nu ne așteptam să recurgă la asemenea gest,am fost consternati, iar toate afronturile aduse de familia de șoricei le găsisem întemeiate. Dar Marlowe a găsit o cale de a ne păcăli, atât pe polițiștii, pe șoricei, cât și pe noi....deoarece sub limba ei se afla Billy Joe, singurul lucru înghițit fiind basca acestuia. După câteva minute de acalmie, șoriceii și-au cerut scuze pentru faptul că s-au îndoit de ea.

📖 Seara este momentul meu preferat, deoarece o găsim pe doamna Marlowe în salon, unde le citește șoarecilor până când adoarme, deoarece oboseala și stresul din acea zi si-au pus amprenta asupra ei.

O carte educativă, amuzantă și care ne ține în suspans, o carte frumos ilustrată și care m-a intrigat să caut o altă carte menționată pe copertă , anume "Șoarecele domnului Maxwell" ,o altă carte scrisă de tată-fiu.

Damian, 6 ani jumatate vă povestește această carte :

https://youtu.be/IJ2g7BP66cI

Recenzia cărții o găsiți pe blog, accesând link-ul https://sclipiridestele.ro/2022/06/17...
401 reviews8 followers
July 4, 2010
I feel rather unsettled about this book. I love the art in it, even the weird, furry hands on the cats. I think the text is a bit lacking, a bit heavy on the repetition of phrases like "the young widow"; actually, that aspect feels a lot like a film noir or one of the early detective novels, which fits the artwork but not the children's-book status. It's my opinion that a lot of the story will be lost on the target audience, and although I have no problem with the representatives of the Department of Catland Security, I am a bit uncomfortable with the depiction of the police as unjust and intimidating in a children's picture book. That concern probably goes over my kids' heads as well, though.

If I read this as just-a-story, an homage to the film noir genre I like so much, I think it's great. If I get caught up in phrases like "Department of Catland Security", I become unsettled. (Of course, they live in Catland, so what are you going to do?) It could be a good WWII allegory, but it doesn't feel quite right for that. So you see, I'm a bit stuck wondering whether the book is really subversive or whether it celebrates true heroism in the face of oppression. Then we must wonder what the difference between those actually is.

However, this is really a picture book with interesting pictures that reward a bit of study.
Profile Image for L- Lisa.
55 reviews
February 17, 2010
Eleanor Marlowe, a librarian at Purrington Street Library, has a kind heart as she harbors mice in her home as a mouse keeper. Yes, Eleanor is a cat in this story set in Edwardian times. The photograph like illustrations of Mrs. Marlowe, the mice that are her family and the "Catland Security" are endearing in a lifelike way. When the Sergeant and Lieutenant arrive to investigate a complaint from a neighbor, the plot thickens for the mouse family. The story finds a hero in Mrs. Marlowe, a cat who has made an unlikely choice of mice for her family. Grades 1-4 will enjoy this book, with attention to the illustrations as a time piece. The illustrations are amazing, although the text does not always seem to compliment the illustrations.

Profile Image for Robin.
4,618 reviews7 followers
January 3, 2026
A cat is suspected of secretly harboring mice by the cat police, which she is.
Profile Image for Betsy.
Author 11 books3,311 followers
September 27, 2007
I used to think that employing a computer to handle all your illustrating needs in a picture book was a risky proposition. Then we entered into 2007 and suddenly there were books like Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug and The Wizard using computers in radically different ways. Finally I got a glimpse of "Mrs. Marlowe's Mice", and now I think that it is safe to say that I've been won over to this style of artistic expression. In a sense, this particular book is a companion to the equally bizarre Mr. Maxwell's Mouse, put out by the same author and illustrator. Of the two, however, I may have to admit that I prefer this latest title. For cat lovers (and mice lovers alike) there's little to compare to the sweet madness that is the world of Frank and Devin Asch.

To the casual observer Mrs. Marlowe is just your average librarian widow. But to those who know her, and know her well, she's a very dangerous person: a mouse-keeper. Mouse-keeping is strictly forbidden, but within her home Mrs. Marlowe oversees a large number of happy well-fed rodentia. Of course, there's always the suspicion in the back of the minds of the mice that perhaps Mrs. Marlowe is just fattening them up for the kill, but the real test comes the day when her home is inspected by two policecats from Catland Security. Though she's adept at keeping the authorities at bay, when little Billy falls from his hiding space what happens next nobody expects.

When I was a kid one of my favorite sequences in the Monty Python film And Now For Something Completely Different was the animated section that showed a huge rampaging cat attacking a town. It was basically a photograph of a real cat animated in bizarre ways and somehow, that imagine kept popping into my head as I read this book. I mean, the way that the cats are portrayed in the Asch titles is doggone weird, you have to admit. It's not many steps from the cats here to William Wegman's human-handed dogs. I had a bit of a time getting over Mrs. Marlowe's furry palms, but you can't imagine how much I appreciated that Mr. Asch the younger didn't slap a head of hair on her or something. He did give her eyelashes (the international unspoken symbol indicating that an animal is a girl) but aside from that she looks much like a very real kitty cat. I was fond of just how attractive Mrs. Marlowe was too. She practically sashays across the room when distracting the police officers away from her illegal mousie brood. Her clothing is relatively conservative (we are talking about a librarian here) but she has just the loveliest way of reclining casually against a chair. It's amazing the menfolk can look anywhere else.

I love how you never really know whose side Mrs. Marlowe is on until the end of the book. With the multiple shots of the cat wielding a very sharp knife above a block of cheese, to say nothing of the cover, the author and illustrator work to constantly keep you guessing about Mrs. Marlowe's intentions towards her "guests". There's a very palpable sense of Mrs. Marlowe living within a police state too. The endpapers of this book show the shadows of two cats over a city map. Below them, little flags portraying the heads of deceased mice dot the landscape, indicating where other mouse-keepers have been caught. Devin Asch is in danger of showing his hand a little too broadly when you spot the number on the Lieutenant's badge from Catland Security, but I suspect that this is a detail that most people usually miss. By and large there isn't a single identifiable moment in history tied into this story of a brave woman hiding an oppressed group from an unjust government.

It's a charming little piece and one that I'm sure isn't going to catch the public's eye as quickly as it deserves to. Yet when it comes to fun stories presented in wholly original ways, Frank and Devin Asch have the competition beat. A great book that contains more than initially meets the eye.
Profile Image for Rose Rosetree.
Author 15 books460 followers
July 14, 2023
A mystery's afoot.

And the Mrs. Marlowe, the title character, is afoot... on four feet. For that matter, so are all the mice she's taking care of, sneaking around, hiding all those four-footed rodents from Catland Security.

Regarding the satirical aspect of this picture book, I suspect, that's included more to keep the adult readers amused. Yet picture book readers may be able to follow the mystery: May or may not, depending on the child.

FIVE STARS for an excellent read with words by Frank Asch and pictures by Devin Asch.
15 reviews17 followers
May 25, 2020
Wonderful, as a small child, I loved this book. I was a hippie-vegetarian five year-old. The surrealistic images, and the slightly morbid story was refreshing and confusing. I loved it! I shall probably always love this book!
10 reviews
March 2, 2021
The story will be viewed by some as a bit dark. I see it as a opportunity to talk to children about everyday heroes and doing what’s right even when it isn’t popular to do so. The artwork is beautiful.
Profile Image for Lynn  Davidson.
8,353 reviews37 followers
November 10, 2023
Mrs. Marlowe is a widowed cat and librarian who secretly keeps a family of mice safe in her house. When a nosy neighbour sends the police to find the mice, Mrs. Marlowe does all she can to keep them hidden. This is a great story with fabulous illustrations.
Profile Image for Dolly.
Author 1 book669 followers
December 30, 2010
We recently read Mr. Maxwell's Mouse and really enjoyed it. When we saw this book at our library, our girls said they wanted to read this one, too. We were a bit confused at first; we forgot the name of the cat from the first book and thought that Mrs. Marlowe was his wife. But once we saw that she was a widow and a friend of the mice, we checked the book jacket and realized that the names were similar, but different. Phew! Otherwise the story would've been very confusing. In any case, we really enjoyed this tale and I liked that it was somewhat less graphic than the other (no knives pressing into mouse flesh.) The ending was somewhat predictable, but still entertaining and we will look for more stories like this.
Profile Image for Beth.
1,082 reviews14 followers
July 24, 2008
Lovely photographic/computer illustrations, and an interesting story with a bit of a twist, though not a compelling one.

The puns, such as "mousekeeper" are often charming but occasionally a bit forced. I was mildly annoyed that the text didn't always match the art (Mrs. Marlowe is pictured wearing a suit but the text says "dress").

This is one of those picture books adults might find more appealing than children (again, the puns) but I think young elementary school children might enjoy it.
Profile Image for Kate.
928 reviews52 followers
January 5, 2008
Wasn't entirely sure about this one just by flipping through it as animals with bodies tend to freak me out a little (yeah, I can hardly look at those William Wegmen weimaraners without getting a chill up my spine). But, I think I liked it. And after reading Elizabeth's review of it, I liked it even more. It most immediately brought connections to people who harbored Jews during the Holocaust, but also reminded me of scary parallels in today's society.
Profile Image for Sarah.
1,098 reviews53 followers
March 24, 2012
Mrs. Marlowe is secretly a mouse-lover and harbors a huge extended family of them in her apartment. But when she's discovered by the police, will she go to extremes to keep her secret? Some disjointed aspects keep this from a higher rating for me. For example, how do the police find out? Why do we get so many references to the fact she's a widow? Illustrations in the 1920's film noir style of the Asches' previous book, Mr. Maxwell's mouse.
Profile Image for The Styling Librarian.
2,170 reviews195 followers
February 15, 2014
Mrs. Marlowe’s Mice by Frank Asch & Devin Asch – My good friend Tanja showed me this book when I visited her library. She mentioned how much she loved reading it aloud. I adored how creative and thoughtful this friendship book was… talk about caring- harboring mice in a home is a dangerous matter, especially since her neighbors could report her. This set up made me think about the Holocaust and how people were hidden in many risk-taker’s homes, love this connection.
Profile Image for Stacey Mulholland.
467 reviews3 followers
Read
July 13, 2016
I got this book to read to my 6-year old as he loves cats. He enjoyed it but I'm not sure I liked some of the undertones as they didn't match his age and maturity. It seemed almost an allegory of WWII Europe with Jews being hidden and the police bad. It would be better for 10+ or just don't read too into it.
Profile Image for carrie.
200 reviews2 followers
September 24, 2008
I don't know why, but Ethan loves this book. It's actually kind of weird for a childrens' book, but whatever, he likes it. This author actually has a lot of cute-looking books. I checked one out, and we'll see how I like it.
Profile Image for Alia.
380 reviews9 followers
March 10, 2008
About halfway through I thought...cats and mice in a Holocaust allegory, I've seen this done before. But it is done well here.
Profile Image for Alicia.
615 reviews
January 14, 2010
Beautiful illustration and design accompany the story of the cat librarian Mrs. Marlowe and the mice she illegally harbors.
Profile Image for Bree.
1,751 reviews11 followers
March 8, 2014
Notes:
this book is way better than Mr. Maxwell's Mouse
lighter humor and better story
I still don't like the people-cats, but the kids really do
Profile Image for Karen.
Author 10 books30 followers
September 8, 2015
This is an incredibly weird and vaguely unsettling book -- both the story and the art -- and, yet, I didn't hate it. Weird.
Profile Image for Jennifer B..
1,278 reviews29 followers
October 1, 2016
Love the illustrations! The story is good, too. A definite WWII Noir to it.
Profile Image for Roger.
1,117 reviews6 followers
December 13, 2016
Schindler's List, for children
Great artwork as well
Profile Image for Christine Turner.
3,560 reviews51 followers
Read
April 7, 2018
Meet Mrs. Eleanor Marlowe, a young widow who lives in an apartment by herself --- not counting the extended family of mice who secretly live with her. Harboring mice is a very serious offense in Cat City. Why would a mild-mannered widow run such a risk? The neighbors wonder why Mrs. Marlowe never invites anyone over for catnip tea. Her secret little friends are beginning to wonder about their host, too. So fine is the cheese she serves that some of Mrs. Marlowe's mice wonder if she's fattening them up for the kill.One day, officers from the Department of Catland Security show up at Mrs. Marlowe's door, demanding to search the premises. Can this crafty feline outwit the police and save her mice from certain doom? Is Mrs. Marlowe the mouse-sympathizer she appears to be? Or is she really a mouse-hungry monster stocking her larder with fresh mice?


Notes
Frank Asch is the author and illustrator of more than 70 books for children. His picture books with Kids Can Press include Ziggy Piggy and the Three Little Pigs and Mr. Maxwell's Mouse (illustrated by his son, Devin Asch). Frank lives in Middletown Springs, Vermont.

Devin Asch is an illustrator and photojournalist. He divides his time between LA and Hawaii.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews