A SURPRISE FOR TINY MOUSE

Tiny Mouse likes all kinds of weather, except for “splashy rain.”

“Tiny Mouse loves nibbling wheat in the sunshine,” and she also enjoys watching the wind-blown leaves. “She likes the crunchy frost on a cold night” and the snowflakes that land on her nose. The delightful mixed-media illustrations are further enhanced by a variety of die-cuts throughout that will have babies wanting to touch. On the first two-page spread, the upper right corner follows the contours of Tiny Mouse, and on the verso, these are the contours of the dried leaves. As Tiny Mouse crunches on the frost on a cold night, a die-cut circle outlines an equally frosty-looking moon, which becomes snow on the next page. But when the weather turns wet, Tiny Mouse is encouraged to run into her hole and hide, and the hole is right there waiting for her. The real surprise in the book comes at the end, when Tiny Mouse’s nose peeks out of her hole to find the sun has come out and made a “lovely rainbow.” The rainbow is an embedded wheel sturdy enough to last through many a spin. The baby-friendly text is rich in vocabulary: “nibbling,” “crackly,” “crunchy,” “tickle,” “splashy,” lovely”—all words that babies will easily understand by the context.

Tiny Mouse and her small adventure are a most welcome addition to the board-book shelf.