Bless this Mouse

Lowry, Lois. 2011. Bless this Mouse. Ill. by Eric Rohmann. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Bless this Mouse is a short, fun, anthropomorphic tale featuring a clan of 219 mice (not including Mouse Mistress Hildegarde) and their daily challenges as church mice in St. Batholomew's Church. St. Bartholomew is very apropos name, considering that the annual blessing of the animals for the Feast of St. Francis may very well be indoors this year because of rain - and the mice know what that means - cats! and lots of them! As if this weren't enough trouble, disobeying Hildegarde's orders, several mouselings have been spotted by the ladies' auxiliary and Father Murphy plans to telephone The Great X! It's Hildegarde's duty to keep her clan safe and hidden.

As the mice prepare for the worst, one of the youngsters seeks advice from Ignatius, an ally of Hildegarde's whom she respects for his knowledge,

"They told me to ask you what exodus means."
 Harvey folded his paws politely and looked up with big eyes.
"Departure," Ignatius replied.  "It's Greek."
Actually, he could forgive a tail yank if someone was genuinely seeking knowledge.  And he remembered Greek fondly, from the university library.  He had nibbled quite a bit of Greek. "An ancient language."
"Greek?" Harvey giggled, and said it several times. "Greek? Greek?" It was so close to squeak that it amused him.  Ignatius gave him a meaningful dark look and he subsided.
"It means 'the departure of large numbers.'"
"Of mice?"
"In this case, mice."
"Why?"
Ignatius sighed.  He knew that once a young one started with why there would be many whys to follow. "Because we're in danger. We have to escape."
"To where?"
"Outdoors."
Harvey squealed nervously, "Outdoors?"

Does Hildegarde rise to the challenge of protecting her colony, despite constant undermining by her rival, Lucretia? Yes, she does; and everyone learns a little something in the process - even Father Murphy.

Like The Birthday Ball, Bless this Mouse is a short chapter book, but there is little else they have in common. Rather than wittiness, Bless this Mouse relies on simplicity; the simplicity of a simple story well told. This is what adults might call a "gentle read," a tale in which the reader can rely on well-developed characters, a dash of adventure, and a happy ending.

Although they appear to be delightful sketches, I will refrain from commenting on the artwork for two reasons - I read the book on my Nook which is not the ideal platform for viewing artwork (no, I don't have a Nook Color) and more importantly, several of the illustrations had a note of "artwork not final."


Advance Reader Copy supplied by Netgalley.
Due out in March 2011

Another review @
Librarian Pirate


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And the winners are ...

Today the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards winners (including the Caldecott and Newbery medals) will be announced from San Diego, beginning at 7:45am EST PST.  Check back throughout the day for updates to this post or view the official ALA webcast.  I can't wait to find out the winners!

(Follow Twitter hashtag #ALAYMA if you can't wait.)

Odyssey Award for best audiobook for children or teens
The True Meaning of Smekday



Pura Belpre Award
The Dreamer

John Newbery Award
Moon over Manifest
(Oh no!  I read all the honor books but not the winner! It will be next on my reading list for sure!)

Randolph Caldecott Award
A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Coretta Scott King Award
One Crazy Summer

Theodore Suess Geisel Award
Bink and Gollie

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Schneider Family Book Award
Pirate of Kindergarten,  After Ever After, Five Flavors of Dumb

and more!

These are some of the major award winners.  Watch the webcast for all the winners and the honor award recipients.

It's also Nonfiction Monday.  Today's roundup can be found at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

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Ol' Bloo's Boogie-Woogie Band and Blues Ensemble

Huling, Jan. 2010. Ol' Bloo's Boogie-Woogie Band and Blues Ensemble. Ill. by Henri Sørenson. Atlanta: Peachtree.

I don't normally like modernized re-tellings of classic folk or fairy tales, but today, I do. Perhaps it's the Old South feeling that Jan Huling has given to this bluesy rendition of the famous Brothers Grimm tale, The Town Musicians of Bremen, or perhaps it's the very appealing cover art and the endearing oil renditions of the rag-tag crew (I particularly like One-Eyed Lemony Cat. He wears a patch over one eye!),

Rusty Red Rooster - whose voice sounded like a player piano bein' hit with an ax - and One-Eyed Lemony Cat- whose voice sounded like a fiddle bein' played with a carvin' knife - and Gnarly Dog - whose voice sounded like a guit-tar bein' scraped with a washboard - and Ol' Bloo Donkey - whose voice sounded like an accordion fallin' down the stairs,

who head out from the fields with a notion to sing in a New Orleans honky-tonk.  Of course, just as in the original Grimm story, they end up scaring off some robbers, but in Ol' Bloo's Boogie-Woogie Band and Blues Ensemble, the robbers are not in the German forests, they are inside a cabin at a table filled with

gumbo and etouffee, muffaletta and po-boys, praline and bread puddin', and more besides.  And sittin' 'round that table were three rough, tough, ugly-lookin' thieves, jest glarin' at one another and pickin' their teeth with their knives.

And though they didn't look like music lovers, Ol' Bloo's band sets up and starts in singing - their very first gig!  And you know the rest of the story - the Blues Ensemble never did make it to the Big Easy, but they "sang in harmony for the rest of their days" in the old cabin.

The easy-going, laid-back language of the south adds some welcome down home American comfort to this old story that I actually remember disliking as a child.  However, in a nod to older versions, classic silhouettes of the troupe in the various stages of its journey appear under the text on the page facing the painted illustrations of the animals in their more colorful Southern habitat.

Fun and funny!

Interestingly, author Jan Huling's website lists her primary occupation as a "beadist."  If writing books is her hobby and her true calling is beading, then she must must certainly be a woman of many talents! The jacket flap lists her as a kazoo player as well - first chair!

This title has been nominated for an ALSC Notable Book in the Nonfiction - Folklore category. Click to see other nominees.

Review copy supplied by the publisher.

Another review @
Biblioreads


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Food is Categorical

When I was a child, life was simpler.  There were four food groups -  dairy, fruits/vegetables, grains, and proteins. (Although I was always insistent that there was also a dessert category)  Then in 1992, a food pyramid was introduced.  It was constructed similarly to an Egyptian pyramid,  with foods as the building blocks for good health.  It didn’t last nearly as long as its four food group predecessor, and was replaced by the current My Pyramid in 2005.  The new pyramid, pictured below, looks more like a Maypole with ribbons of color suggesting the food categories. Boring, right?  Well, if you’re bored by it all, imagine how kids feel about the topic!

Enter the CATegorial cats to help out.


Food is CATegorical is the name of a new seven book series featuring the main food groups and healthy living.  I read two of the new books.

• Cleary, Brian P. 2011. Apples, Cherries, Red Raspberries: What is in the Fruits Group? Ill. by Martin Goneau. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook.
• Cleary, Brian P. 2011. Macaroni and Rice and Bread by the Slice: What is in the Grains Group? Ill. by Martin Goneau. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook.

Light-hearted rhymes in a simple and sometimes colorful font, introduce foods and facts about their benefits, origins, or usage.

Bananas are cool ‘cause they’re packaged in peels. They’re equally good on desserts or with meals.  Whether on cereal or with your lunch, this fruit’s sure to pack a potassium punch!

The rhymes are accompanied by lively and humorous cartoon illustrations of cats.  On one page, a cat is whistling on his way to the bathroom. A bowl of fruit is on the table. Dressed in a robe and slippers and carrying a newspaper under his arm, he’s accompanied by this rather graphic rhyme,

A plum or a prune or some nice honeydew -

all these will help us to go “number two.”

Each book concludes with the proper amount of that should be eaten (for grains, 5-6 ounces per day), and illustrations of portion sizes (1 slice whole wheat bread equals 1 ounce).

These are not the books that children will come looking for, but I’m betting that teachers will be whisking them off my shelves and into the classroom.  If your goal is to teach healthy eating and the food pyramid -- like prunes, these books will get the job done.

Coloring sheets, games and other activities related to the Food is CATegorical series are available on the author’s website.

The current USDA food pyramid




Today’s Nonfiction Monday is at Charlotte’s Library.

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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Just a quick post for this New Year's Day -

My daughter and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader tonight.  I reviewed the book back in 2009, so it wasn't fresh in my head, but all in all I think the movie was fairly faithful to the C.S. Lewis story.  There was some evil green mist (why is evil mist always green?) and a "dark island" that neither of us remembered, but otherwise, the plot was as we remembered.  I thought that the 3D wasn't really necessary, but my daughter thought it was a nice touch.

So, if you've got one day of vacation left and you're a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia, seeing the movie is not a bad way to kill 112 minutes.



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