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TEN OLD MEN AND A MOUSE

Name: TEN OLD MEN AND A MOUSE
Author: Cary Fagan
ISBN: 978-0-88776-716-6

by Cary Fagan & illustrated by Gary Clement ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2007

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The discovery of a mouse in the synagogue signals a break from the routine for the ten old men who gather there every night. Grumbling and getting in each other’s way, they manage to set a trap. Next day, when the mouse is still alive—and visibly irritated in Clement’s fine-lined, delicately colored, gently comical illustrations—they instead create a cozily furnished corner in the cupboard, offer a supply of strawberries and apple slices, and, predictably, soon discover that “he” is a “she.” The synagogue being a far less lively place after the energetic new arrivals are carried off to a home in the country, the mouse is welcomed back when she reappears at the door, alone: “Don’t tell me. Your children grew up and moved away. An old story.” But: “Don’t worry. You’ll hear from your kids again. You know when? When they need something.” Like James Stevenson’s more recent outings, this good-natured episode may have less appeal for young children (though that mouse is pretty cute, and so are the old guys) than for the parents and grandparents who will insist on reading it to them. So share it, already. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 13, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-88776-716-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tundra Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ROBOT ISLAND
by Cary Fagan

- BOOK REVIEW
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN LIVES NEXT DOOR
by Cary Fagan ; illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne

- BOOK REVIEW
BEAR WANTS TO SING
by Cary Fagan ; illustrated by Dena Seiferling

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CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

by John Lithgow & illustrated by Boris Kulikov ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004

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Commissioned to flesh out a storyline and create a spoken text for a New York City Ballet production set to the Saint-Saëns piece, Lithgow offers a tale of a wayward schoolboy who escapes his teacher during a museum visit, falls asleep surrounded by stuffed exhibits in a closed gallery, and dreams of his classmates, neighbors, music teacher, librarian, mother, and great-aunt as animals. The author once again shows his knack for brisk doggerel—“Oliver Pendleton Percy the Third / Was a mischievous imp of a lad. / The tricks that he played on Professor McByrd / Nearly drove the old schoolmaster mad.” Kulikov catches the rollicking comic tone with floridly dressed, theatrically posed figures bearing animal-like heads on humanoid bodies, or vice versa, performing for an amused-looking lad in a rumpled school blazer. An attendant CD features actor Lithgow’s animated reading, interspersed with musical passages from the production. Though not quite another “Peter and the Wolf,” this will give a much-performed orchestral piece a leg up with younger listeners—and it works at least as well on paper as it does on stage. (Picture book with CD. 7-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-689-86721-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
NEVER PLAY MUSIC RIGHT NEXT TO THE ZOO
by John Lithgow ; illustrated by Leeza Hernandez

- BOOK REVIEW
I GOT TWO DOGS
by John Lithgow & illustrated by Robert Neubecker

- BOOK REVIEW
MAHALIA MOUSE GOES TO COLLEGE
by John Lithgow & illustrated by Igor Oleynikov

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RED-EYED TREE FROG

by Joy Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)