Review: What a Breath of Fresh Air! Finally, a Rhyming Story That Actually Rhymes!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 20, 2013
I'm so glad I met Morris Mouse. :)I love, love, love rhyming stories. I can hardly bring myself to read a children's book that isn't in verse.There's just one problem: everyone and his mother thinks he can rhyme.  But almost every book on Kindle that claims to rhyme not only lacks a proper sense of rhyme, but is totally clueless about rhythm, or metre, as well.  Their "rhymes" just end up awkward and cumbersome, stumbling all over the place.So when I bought Meet Morris Mouse, I honestly was expecting it to be just another failed attempt at rhyme (but I figured at 99 cents, I'd risk it). I'm so glad I was wrong.Munro Wilder has virtually perfect rhyme and rhythm. What a relief!(I even read the book to my 60-something-year-old mother, as an example of a well-written Kindle book, after reading her some of the disastrous stuff out there.)The metre of Meet Morris Mouse is consistently an 8-syllable line followed by a 6-syllable line, like this:Ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUMTa-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM(With the "TUM" being the emphasized syllables.)So it sounds more like poetry than say Dr. Seuss or Mr. Meus (whose emphases follow "ta-ta-TUM," instead of "ta-TUM"). Wilder's style reminds me of Jack Prelutsky.Personally, I enjoyed the rhythm so much that I didn't even care much about the content of the story. But it turns out the content was an added bonus, because it was good, too. It's a cute story of Morris's little adventure as he awaits the birthday party his mom had planned for him.It's a light, playful, fun story (don't expect the social commentary of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax or Mr. Meus's The Blankful Heart). So if you want some good, wholesome fun and some great rhyme (and maybe even a couple of laugh-out-loud moments), check it out.My son (who's no longer a little kid, at 13, but who still enjoys good rhyme) and I both really enjoyed the lines, "He made a face or two," and "They sat and talked all night." (I purposely didn't write the whole verse, so I don't spoil it for you.)I enjoyed Meet Morris Mouse so much that I'm gonna go grab the whole Morris Mouse Collection now.