Welcome Home, Mouse
PreS-Gr 1–A sweet story of an eager-to-please but clumsy young elephant. Stanley wants to assist his mother in the kitchen but is more of a hindrance than a help, so she sends him to the store for tomatoes. On the way, he accidentally smashes a mouse's pumpkin home. The poor mouse has lost everything and Stanley pledges to fix his mistake. Employing his imagination, he picks up a variety of items including walnut shells, acorn caps, a lace doily, a bottle cap, and an assortment of items from the recycle bin on his porch. Beginning with the tomato box, he creatively uses his found objects to construct a cozy home for his grateful new friend. The fascinating illustrations made from watercolors, ink, pastels, and colored pencils feature two simply drawn plump gray elephants and a small tan mouse placed on intricately assembled collage backgrounds. The collages appear to include postage stamps, a braided rug, wallpaper, pieces of quilts and pottery as well as hand-cut leaves. Using one's imagination, repairing a mistake, and making a new friend are some of the themes contained in this charming story.Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI© Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.