The Mouse Bride - Hardcover

Ages 4^-6. Feeling "small and weak," a tiny mouse sets out on a journey to find a strong husband. She asks the sun, the clouds, and the wind to marry her, but they all turn her down, disclaiming their strength. She proposes to a very old house, who tells her that the ideal husband is living in the basement. If this strong creature continues to nibble and gnaw on my beams and timbers, "I shall collapse in a heap of dust," he says. The tiny mouse scurries to the basement, where, to her surprise, she discovers another mouse, her future husband. Drawn from a mouse's perspective, the soft, unfocused illustrations sweep across each double-page spread. The exaggerated--almost cartoon-like--features of the mice, who are not portrayed as cute, cuddly animals, add a touch of whimsy to this playful tale. Amusing fare for young listeners April Judge

PreSchool-Grade 2?Another version of the folktale about the mouse who tries to marry varying powerful beings, like the sun, a cloud, and the wind, and ends up marrying the strongest of all?another mouse. Cowley's retelling is competent, but is overwhelmed by Christiana's large, eye-catching paintings. Unfortunately, in trying to show the enormity of the potential suitors and the smallness of the mouse, the illustrator has made the rodent so small that she's very hard to see, especially for a story time group. Dick Gackenbach's The Perfect Mouse (Macmillan, 1984; o.p.) is much more whimsical and better suited to a young audience.?JoAnn Rees, Sunnyvale Public Library, CA
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