Once Upon a Twice

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

is lovely. The text is creative & begs to be read aloud. But the message is one I'm not sure I'd want to share with children. It's about a little mouse who makes a narrow escape from death while trying to be bold and explorative.

So, yes, it's true that mice should be timid. But since children are accustomed to learning about *themselves* via animals, with this picture-book we'd be teaching children to stay in line, mind their place, and forget about having adventures. Is that what we *want* to teach them?

[Courtney]

I will NOT be reading this in storytime. The text is too confusing for a group of children. I'm not even sure I understood all of it! The best part of the book are its illustrations, which are big and beautiful. As for the message, I think the mice are just mice in the story. They aren't wearing clothes or living in houses. In fact, they look like pretty realistic mice.

I will take this home and share it with my 1-year-old. He is fascinated with the moon, so we'll use it as a search and find book for that.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Abigail, it is a brief picture book. :)

Courtney, what a wonderful way to add value to a picture book, to help children with their observation skills and their sense of aesthetics. Will you be my mommy too?

[Courtney]

LOL... it's really not that bad. We looked at it last night and I must say it is a welcome interruption to "BIIIG truck" books. Plus, I love the way my little one says moon. It sounds more like "mewn" with a long and drawn out vowel sound. Precious!

[Mir]

Plotwise this book was a lot like a story my mother used to tell me before bed, about a little chipmunk who leaves the nest at night in search of a snack and has some dangerous encounters. I didn't find the message excessively timid, but I grew up in a large city where wandering alone at night was definitely a bad idea.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

tx Miriam; good point...