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PRESCHOOL
Hall, Michael

House Mouse

40 pp. | Greenwillow | May, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-286619-6 $17.99
(2) PS A story of perseverance and hospitality, Hall's (Red, rev. 1/15; Swing, rev. 5/20) latest follows a hardworking mouse and her home-building journey. It begins when she comes across a wild asparagus patch and finds a "warm and welcoming" flame, around which she builds a tall black stove ("bang bang bang"). An encounter with a hungry fox leads the mouse to lay a yellowy-green tile floor "to mark the spot where the fox wouldn't go"; then a big rainstorm prompts her to construct ("tap tap tap") a brown wooden frame and roof "to mark the spot where the rain wouldn't fall." After days of asparagus soup, she hears a persistent knocking and builds a door "to mark the spot where the knocking had been." Soon she welcomes two mouse travelers into her sheltering abode, where they all enjoy the warmth of vegetable soup and newfound friendship. 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. Reminiscent of Leo Lionni's work, this tale of a mouse and her house is aglow with tenacity, generosity, and good cheer.
Reviewer: Emmie Stuart | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

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