Mice are Nice

by Nancy Larrick

A collection of poems about mice by David McCord, A. A. Milne, John Ciardi, Ian Serraillier, and others.

Genres: Poetry

45 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 1990

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compilation of poems by various well-known poets on the subject of mice. We liked this book a lot, and there wasn't a poem we didn't like. : )

[Fred Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I came across this book while searching A. A. Milne in my library catalogue. This collection contained two of his poems, which I had already read in When We Were Very Young: "Missing", and "The Christening". That's ok, though; all of these poems are poems you can read again and again.

Another author I was familiar with was Edward Lear, whose poem "Calico Pie" was included in this collection (this was a new one for me). Also familiar is John Ciardi, whose poems are a standard feature in children’s anthologies. His poem included here: "The Light-House-Keeper's White-Mouse", is also included in Ciardi's book You Read to Me and I’ll Read to You.

Many of these authors were new to me. Among my favorite unfamiliar poems were "Mice" and "Wanted", by Rose Fyleman. I am going to have to read her collection Fifty One Nursery Rhymes. Other favorites of mine were "A Friendly Mouse", by Harry Behn, and "Cats and Dogs", by N. M. Bodecker.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is very cute. Poems about mice. I never think much about the furry creatures; I guess like most people, I don't want to see one in my home. But they are cute when you think about it. They live on crumbs and exist at the bottom of the food chain. We should pay more attention to this humble beings.

[SallySnowtiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mice Are Nice
Grades K-3

The illustrator, Ed Young uses charcoal and pastel in his illustrations to giving the images a soft, dream-like quality. The illustrations compliment the poems about these delicate little creatures very well. Nancy Larrick compiled various styles of poems that describe qualities of different types of mice. From timid to playful, the mice are given personable attributes that make some of the poems humorous. Most of the poems in this collection use rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance and would appeal to children because they have a cheerful sound. Children would enjoy the large soft and gentle illustrations as well as the rhyming humorous poems.


Language Arts/Science/ Social Emotional Learning/Art
Grades K-3
Read aloud and the students can write their own rhyming poem about mice or cats. Students can learn more about mice in science by studying why these little mammals are commonly used in laboratories for research. Students can study the topic of animals used in laboratory research, and explore the ethical problems this causes which would fulfill a science and social emotional learning standards. For kindergarten/grade1 students can enjoy the poems by focusing on the sound and try to identify the rhyming words. Students can make a drawing that is based on one of the poems in the collection and use charcoal and pastel to create a soften affect.

[Kindal Kottman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was wonderful .It was a whole collection of poetry written by various artist. With each page was a poem written about mice. Some artist expressed how they loved mice and even thought they were cute. Other poems looked at how mice can be destructive and nasty. One artist even wrote of how there are different mice. We have are city mice and are garden mice. Another poem reflected on what mice do every night when we are sleeping. One of the poets David even wrote a heart wrenching poem about his pet mouse and how he would give him bits of cheese out of his hand. Very sweet book I would highly recommend it.

[Katie Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect book for elementary students, this book would be great to introduce poetry. It celebrates poems written about the tiny little creature that crawls throughout the house. One of my favorite poems was “The House of the Mouse.” All the poems are written by different authors which I appreciated because they were each so different and special in their own way. The illustrations throughout the book are exquisite charcoals and pastels that beautifully complete this book.

[Pynteya Bate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of mice-topic poems makes a good introduction to different kinds of poetry to the children from Kindergarten through 3d or 4th grade. The author presents these small creatures in different poems as creatures who like to explore, have fun, creative, and feel like any place they go is their home. Some poems are funny; I have read them to my students and they like it.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of poems about mice. Watercolor illustrations in earth tones. Readers will recognize many of the poets, including A.A. Milne.

I'd recommend using one or two of the poems to supplement a unit or a storytime on mice.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of course now Alissa wants to have a mouse.