Mahalia Mouse Goes to College: Book and CD
Grade 3 Up–This sophisticated story is part of Lithgow's commencement speech to Harvard's class of 2005. Rhyming verses introduce Mahalia, a mouse who leaves her impoverished family behind to search for food. She finds herself interested in a science course after accidentally ending up in a Harvard classroom in a student's backpack. Her diligence and intelligence win the professor's support, and she goes on to complete four years of study. She graduates, thus ending this story of stout self-reliance;/An epic account on a miniature scale/Of a mouse who set forth on life's bumpy trail/And succeeded by simply refusing to fail. Children can appreciate the tiny protagonist's persistence, but some concepts like professors, lab fees, and lectures will need to be explained. The art is rendered in gouache then digitally treated, resulting in a dark, at times somber, palette. The illustrations are exuberant whether depicting the joy on graduates' faces or their horror at spotting a mouse in their lecture hall. The accompanying CD is a live recording of the story from the commencement ceremony, and it is a joy to listen to Lithgow's musical cadence and hear the audience's reactions to this presentation.–Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.