House Mouse

Description

When a clever and resourceful mouse looks for a safe place to settle down, she learns that home is wherever you make it. A story about friendship, hospitality, and building from the award-winning and bestselling Michael Hall, creator of Red: A Crayon's Story and Perfect Square. On a chilly morning, a mouse finds something remarkable: a warm and welcoming fire. So, she builds a stove to mark the spot. When a fox chases the mouse but suddenly stops, she builds a floor on the patch of ground where she is protected. Soon, it seems as though the mouse has everything she needs for a house. But there's one thing missing: friends! House Mouse is a deceptively simple story about hard work, creativity, and sharing from a master of layered, yet accessible picture books. Michael Hall's signature bright, bold mixed-media artwork will catch the eye of the youngest readers, as will the busy mouse's tool collection and construction work. House Mouse is playful and surprising and shares a powerful message about friendship, empathy, and hospitality. A must-have for fans of Mo Willems and Eric Carle.

Michael Hall is an award-winning designer whose work has been widely recognised for its simple and engaging approach. He studied biochemistry and psychology at the University of Michigan and worked in biomedical research for several years before becoming a designer. He is the creator of the New York Times-bestselling My Heart Is Like a Zoo and the acclaimed Perfect Square, Cat Tale, and It's an Orange Aardvark! He is also the creative director of the Hall Kelley design firm. He lives with his family in St. Paul, Minnesota.

"With the graphic minimalism of a simple group of shapes or the squiggle of a line, a house mouse creates a space that evolves into a house for all. . . . This simple book is a timely addition to titles that encourage social emotional learning as it presents a step-by-step transformation that echoes safety with an enduring welcome and empathy for newcomers." - School Library Journal (starred review) "It begins with a house, or perhaps with a warm, welcoming flame, or perhaps with the intrepid journey of a mouse who travels over a hill, across a river, and into an asparagus patch to find a home. . . . Gentle, straightforward text and onomatopoeia recount the mouse's efforts to envision what could be before it is there . . . A thoughtful tale for engineers young and old." - Kirkus Reviews "When a mouse discovers a 'warm and welcoming' flame in an asparagus patch one cold day, she makes the first in a series of life-changing decisions. . . . The construction theme is a natural for Hall, who builds his images from simple, bright-colored shapes . . . As readers appreciate Hall's graphic inventiveness, they can also ponder how much comfort and company a hearth can provide." - Publishers Weekly "It all begins when a tiny mouse finds something remarkable in a wild asparagus patch. . . . The soundscaping elements . . . will lend themselves brilliantly to read-alouds, child participation, and dramatization . . . This is a sweet, original, well-structured story about how leading with our warm, welcoming impulses will serve and protect us all." - Booklist "A story of perseverance and hospitality, Hall's latest follows a hardworking mouse and her home-building journey. . . . Hall's use of onomatopoeia and geometric shapes (a triangle for the mouse's body; rectangles for the house's frame and floor) naturally emphasize and extend the construction theme. Vignettes highlighting the protagonist's industriousness are interwoven with double-page spreads depicting cutaway and interior views of her cozy home. . . . This tale of a mouse and her house is aglow with tenacity, generosity, and good cheer." - Horn Book Magazine