BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - NOT RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE APPEAL: Low
An elderly woman cuts out two paper mice from old envelopes and sticks them between the pages of a couple of books. At night, the paper mice come alive and begin to explore the house by themselves. But the real magic happens when they meet up and become friends.
The story itself is okay but pretty forgettable. (Though it does beg the question: WHY does the old woman cut out the mice, paint them, and then put them in the pages of two separate books? They don't need to be flattened. They don't seem to be used as bookmarks. They can't be a surprise, since her grandchild watched her the whole time? So why?) Anyway. It's the dark and dismal illustrations that brought this book down into NOT RECOMMENDED territory. They are pretty unappealing, and are reminiscent of a 1950s picture book, but without the excuse of lack of printing capabilities to justify it. In addition, there is a scene with a half-naked doll -- the top half, shown in great enough detail to make an impression. I understand that dolls sometimes show some skin when kids are changing their clothes, but this was completely unnecessary. Leave something to the imagination, please.
Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist
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