kamel622's Full Review: Laura Joffe Numeroff - If You Give a Mouse a Cooki...
The other day when I was looking for a particular book in the epinions database I was so surprised when I realized that I had never reviewed If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.
The Story
As with other books in this series, the story sort of winds itself around from point A to Z and then back again.
In the beginning it starts with a young boy giving a mouse a cookie, but of course if he has a cookie he'll want a glass of milk to go with it...but then a straw would be good etc. etc. etc.
Then he'll look in the mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache. When he looks into the mirror he might notice his hair needs a trim. So he'll probably ask for a pair of nail scissors.
The little mouse ends up cleaning (?) the house and drawing a picture that he puts on the refrigerator, but of course looking at it on the fridge makes him thirsty for milk...and then of course you need a cookie to go with it.
The Illustrations
The simple but cute illustrations look to be colored pencil drawings with a solid black outline.
Each page has small snippets of illustrations, rather than edge to edge drawings, but each one is filled with fun and interesting details to look at. They all help to tell the story very well.
The text is a small bold black font that is placed only on the white background, making it easy to see. I'm able to hold this book up and read it to my little daycare group without too much problem.
Our Feelings
The reason I was so surprised that I hadn't reviewed this book yet is that it is one of my daycare children's favorites and we've read it many, many times over the past 7 years. Today when I pulled it out 6 year old Sonny smiled and told me he remembers that book and he really likes it!
I love the illustrations in this book, especially the page where the mouse is coloring on a piece of paper and his crayons are laying on it. 3 year old Dani commented that they looked like real crayons and they really do. I laid the page down so we could look at them that way and I swear if you walked in to the room and just glanced at the page you would think there were crayons laying there.
The mouse is full of personality and is dressed in overalls, while the young boy is dressed in jeans and a shirt and looks to be around 6 or 7 years old.
One of the great things about this book and all the books in the If You Give A..... series of books is that children learn about cause and effect in it. For each action there is another action as the story builds on itself.
I read slowly so to allow Sonny or Dani to fill in the blanks as I read. Rather than quickly giving each word I would pause allowing them to guess what would come next. Sonny did really well at being able to figure out what the little mouse might ask for...and he knew in the end of the book that when the mouse asked for a glass of milk, he would want a cookie too.
I would recommend this book for children from around 3 years and up to about 8. It is a fun story and the illustrations will hold a younger child's attention too.
Nuts & Bolts
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie is by Laura Joffe Numeroff and the illustrations are by Felicia Bond. This team has also written and illustrated If You Give a Pig A Pancake, If You Give A Moose A Muffin and If You Take A Mouse To The Movies, as well as many other books in this series.
HarperFestival published this 28 page paperback book in 1995 with the text being copyrighted in 1985.
Now updated and digitally remastered, this mini-book edition of a classic includes a CD with a reading by renowned actress Carol Kane, an interactive,...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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