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Summary
Summary
Mouserella misses her grandmouse, so she writes her a letter. At first she can't think of anything to say, but once she starts, the news begins to flow - she found a cat whisker at the zoo, she taught her ladybug to fetch, she made shadow puppets with Dadmouse during a blackout - and just like that, the events of the past few days come to vivid life in her letter, as does her love for Grandmouse.
Children will enjoy reading the story from top to bottom, like a real letter, and Mouserella's funny drawings and lively adventures will spark their imaginations and just might inspire them to start a correspondence of their own.
Author Notes
David Ezra Stein (www.davidezra.com) received a Caldecott Honor for Interrupting Chicken and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Leaves , which was also a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice and a School Library Journal Best Book. He lives in Kew Gardens, New York.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Mouserella's letter to her Grandmouse describes her days with the meandering topics of a child, occasionally concluding "and that's all.but" as she continues with descriptions of her daily activities. Listeners learn about her pet caterpillar and the ladybug she has taught to fetch, a visit to the zoo with a scary cat, a blackout, and how to make shadow bunnies. They will want to scrutinize Mouserella's drawings, pictures from her new camera, and illustrations of the events she describes as they follow along with the book. Author David Ezra Stein has also illustrated this terrific book (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, 2011), creating illustrations with watercolors, stencils, and water-soluble crayons that perfectly reflect a young child's artwork, down to the doodled end pages and ice-pop splotches. The conversational pace of the narration by Michele O. Medlin makes the hand-printed text with its multicolored and occasionally all capital lettering easy to follow. She skillfully captures a child's intonation. Page-turn signals are optional. The limited vocabulary, engaging illustrations, and childish sensibilities allow this to work as an early reader. Paired with the book, it may also inspire children to write letters to family and friends.-Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
When Mouserella's mother suggests that she write a letter to her grandmouse, the result is a diary-style story filled with Mouserella's scrawled crayon drawings and Stein's paintings of Polaroid-style photos that the young mouse has purportedly taken. Mouserella's love of Grandmouse, who lives out in the country, is evident as she describes visiting a museum and a zoo, teaching her ladybug to fetch, and creating a huge (but short-lived) wall of blocks to separate her side of the room from her brother, Ernie's. Mouserella's ebullience comes through on every page: "I don't know what to write," she writes, proceeding to doodle flowers instead. She even includes a small gift (a ketchup packet from the museum cafeteria) with the admonition "P.S. don't squash this letter or you'll break the pack of ketchup." Mouserella's delightfully precocious letter-which unfolds calendar-style, allowing Stein (Interrupting Chicken) to make the most of the faux lined-stationery background-is probably best suited for children with the skills to craft letters of their own. After this exercise in joyful self-expression, they'll certainly want to. Ages 3-5. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Bestrewing lined sheets with crayon drawings, Polaroids, smudges, a ketchup packet (not a real one) and other signs of affection, a mouseling writes a newsy love note to her Grandmouse."I don't know what to write..." she startsbut that problem disappears in a twinkling, as her attention flits from a crafts project to a pet ladybug ("I taught her to fetch"), from a museum visit ("At the butterfly tent I put honey from the cafeteria on my ears so butterflies would land on me. But none did") to flashlight shadow puppets during the previous week's blackout. Showing his customary gift for spot-on evocations of childlike voice and sensibility, Caldecott honoree Stein (Interrupting Chicken, 2010) interweaves Mouserella's loosely connected comments with decorative crayon sketches, relatively more finished vignettes representing pictures in her imagination or scenes she is describing and painted "photos" of a pet chrysalis, Dadmouse and other subjects. "Write back," she concludes, after expressing hopes of a future visit. "I mouse you." Awww.Sometimes snail mail is just better. Here's proof. (Picture book. 5-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mouserella's grandmouse left three days ago, which may not seem like a long time. But it's long enough to miss someone you love, so Mouserella writes her a letter. It's not so much what she says but the way she says it. Author and illustrator Stein provides a clever and enticingly child-friendly format that brings readers right into Mouserella's world. For starters, the book must be turned vertically. The yellow-lined pages make this look as if Mouserella is writing on a pad. Interspersed with her musings are photographs from the camera Grandmouse gave her, scribbled drawings, and more expertly executed scenes from her day. The nicest is the picture of the family on the terrace during a blackout, starlight mingling with the candlelight from the neighbors' houses. The text, which flits from topic to topic in the same way a real child's letter might, may amuse adult readers more than kids. But young ones will have more than their fair share of fun, and they'll understand the longing for someone who's gone away.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist