If my two and a half year old daughter Annabel were to have her own blog of books favored by her at the moment, this would surely make the list. When asked what she liked the most about this book, she responded with glee, “They play in a boot!”
Indeed, the brother mouse, Tiny, and his older sister, Katy, do play in an abandoned boot they come across in a wheat field, fixing it up as a mouse playhouse with the help of a shiny shelled snail. The thought of being small enough to play in a shoe absolutely tickled my daughter. I can certainly see the appeal, remembering a fondness for the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and recalling a childhood photo snapped at an amusement park, my sister and I seated in an enormously oversized chair, effectively dwarfed and loving every minute of it.
This vibrant picture book is full of imagination, adventure, and fears commonly experienced by mice…and little men and women. Annabel had such empathy for Tiny mouse, tremoring at the shadow of an unknown insect and shaking at the sight of yet another unfamiliar creature walking through the grass. Like his older, reassuring sister Katy, Annabel sought to appease the little mouse’s fears (“Is it a cat?”) upon spying a fluffy white tail, shouting out, “It’s just a rabbit!” before we could get to the next page. This book is undoubtedly in tune with both a child’s sense of adventure and fear of the unknown.
The beautiful woodcuts are a pleasure to behold. They’re bright and warm, deep and dark, linear, crackly, curvy. Aqua, indigo, gold, strawberry red, celadon green, and a nutty brown are used to great effect. The pictures pop and dazzle.
Tiny and Katy mouse, bright eyed, daring duo, done captured my daughter’s imagination and heart. And I, of course, loved the pictures.
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