Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | ASCH | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Lyons Public Library | E/K ASCH | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Asch | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | JP Asch | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Mr. Maxwell is one contented cat. He has just been promoted. And what better way to celebrate than by going to his favourite restaurant, the Paw and Claw? He decides to live a little and order the house specialty -- a live mouse. When the headwaiter asks if they should kill the mouse, Mr. Maxwell says that isn't necessary. He knows the Paw and Claw's mice are bred for politeness! But this particular live mouse can't keep quiet -- would Mr. Maxwell like to add a little salt? Or order a glass of wine? Would he mind saying a little prayer before eating? My, what a bold and wordy mouse! Mr. Maxwell hopes the mouse doesn't give him indigestion ... Richly illustrated and full of surprises, 'Mr. Maxwell's Mouse' is a David-and-Goliath story with claws, whiskers and tails. AGES: 5 to 9 AUTHOR: Frank Asch has a degree in Fine Arts and has written over seventy children's books including 'Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius', the IRA Children's Choice Award-winning 'Mr. Maxwell's Mous and its follow-up, 'Mrs. Marlowe's Mice'. Colour
Author Notes
Frank Asch was born on August 6, 1946, in Somerville, NJ. In 1969 he graduated from Cooper Union in New York City with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts. Since then he has taught in both the United States and abroad. He has also organized art, writing, puppetry, and creative dramatics workshops for children all over the country.
In 1976 Mr. Asch and his wife started their own children's theatre called The Belly Buttons. In l989, Frank Asch and Vladimir Vagin published Here Comes the Cat!, the first Russian/American collaboration on a children's book, which has since received the Russian National Book Award. Mr. Asch also joined forces with naturalist and photographer Ted Levin for a series of poetry books for children. In 1996, their first book, Sawgrass Poems, was named to the John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers. Like a Windy Day was released in fall 2002. It was the fourth and last book in the "element" book series that already includes The Earth and I, Water, and The Sun Is My Favorite Star.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-A clever game of cat and mouse is presented with delicious humor by this father/son team. Mr. Howard Maxwell, a dapper, pompous feline, lunches daily on baked mouse at the stuffy Paw and Claw restaurant, but today is different. Promoted to Vice Manager of Efficiency Control at Taylor, Bentwell and Nipson, he celebrates by ordering raw mouse instead. The entree arrives "stretched out on a single slice of rye toast as if sunning itself on a sandy beach" and proceeds to engage its prospective nemesis in conversation, a wily plan to escape its fate. Mr. Maxwell falls into the trap, is tricked into cutting into his own tail, and the mouse gets away, freeing the other mice awaiting consumption and creating mayhem in the restaurant as well. Recuperating in the hospital, Mr. Maxwell receives a note that reads, in part: "I'm sure you would have taken similar measures had you found yourself in my position.- I bear you no ill will and can only imagine that you feel the same." Readers will relish the formal language as a tongue-in-cheek counterpoint to a very funny, if macabre, story. In keeping with the black humor, dark but lush illustrations, rendered in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter, depict an Edwardian setting with the staid, elegant restaurant interior just begging to be thrown into chaos. White text against glossy black panels perfectly suits the mood, and atop his mustard brown toast the little white mouse glows with cleverness. A truly scrumptious treat.-Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Father-son team Frank and Devin Asch (Like a Windy Day; Baby Duck's New Friend) here team up for a cat-and-mouse tale that showcases the younger Asch's lush digital artistic talents, alongside the elder's witty text. Lunching at the opulent Paw and Claw to celebrate his job promotion, Mr. Maxwell, a genteel black cat, forgoes his usual baked mouse for an order of mixed green salad and a main dish of raw mouse. The artist characterizes the restaurant-as well as the proportions and dress of its feline patrons-as decidedly human and upscale; he underscores the grave theme with somber shades of olive brown and rusty red. Yet he leavens the proceedings when Mr. Maxwell's entree arrives reposing atop a slice of rye. The mouse, "bred for plumpness and politeness" (according to the headwaiter), congratulates the cat on his promotion, convinces him to purchase a glass of Beaujolais and generally becomes a too- amiable edible. Readers should soon catch onto the mouse's feigned innocence. When the cat's growing discomfort gets the best of him, the mouse persuades him to use a blindfold and substitutes the feline's tail on the plate. Even though all ends well (for the mouse, at least), some children may be uncomfortable with a few of the images: the glinting knife and fork pressed to the mouse's belly and the bloody (though not fatal) result of the cat's error. Ages 5-9. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
An urbane, executive-level cat on his lunch break orders a live mouse instead of his usual baked mouse and finds himself in conversation with his entree. Witty dialogue between the cat and the crafty, deferential mouse and refined, digitally rendered illustrations (primarily black and white) combine in this macabre but deliciously dark comedy. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
This father/son team has concocted a delicious cat-and-mouse tale in which small outsmarts large. Every day, Mr. Howard Maxwell, a proper and pompous cat, orders baked mouse at the Paw and Claw Restaurant until the day of his promotion to Vice Manager of Efficiency Control, when he chooses a raw mouse for his entrÉe. When the dish arrives, the white mouse, reclining on rye toast, engages Mr. Maxwell in conversation (despite his mother's admonitions not to fraternize with his food), employing one ruse after another to delay his demise: sprinkling salt, ordering a glass of wine, and requesting a prayer. The mouse deviously creates a catastrophe that enables him to escape and free all the other mice. The computer-generated art is stylishly elegant, dramatically colored in dark hues of slate and black, and handsomely designed with the text printed in white on black sidebars. Effective telescopic perspectives zoom closer as the mouse gets nearer to being eaten. Visually stunning, the period setting (1930s England?), captivating illustrations, and tongue-in-cheek dialogue create a delectable tail, er, tale of one-upmouseship to be savored. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 2-4. Mr. Maxwell--actually a fashionably dressed feline--has received a promotion at work. To celebrate, he repairs to his favorite restaurant, the Paw and Claw, for a luncheon of fresh mouse. How fresh? Well, the critter is still alive when it's delivered to the table, and, moreover, it's in the mood for conversation. Most children will recognize this for the delaying tactic it is, but Mr. Maxwell doesn't have a clue. Not, that is, until--a bit squeamish about ingesting such a lively entree--he is persuaded by the mouse to don a blindfold. Then things become, well, painfully clear. There's something a little creepy about this story and the elegant, computer-assisted pictures that accompany it. Maybe the cats look a bit too human (they have hands instead of paws), or maybe it's the idea of chatting up your lunch. Whichever, this is one of those books that incites the kind of frisson that certain children will enjoy more than adults who, like this reviewer, are as squeamish as Mr. Maxwell. --Michael Cart Copyright 2004 Booklist