Mousie Love

Chaconas, Dori. 2009. Mousie Love. Illustrated by Josee Masse. Bloomsbury.

I typically love picture books starring cute little mice. (Not that I *love* mice in real life.) But fictional mice are cute and charming and lovable, generally speaking. Like who could not love the mouse from If You Give A Mouse A Cookie? Or the oh-so-messy mouse from Mouse Mess? Or the little white mice starring in Mouse Paint and Mouse Count?

Mousie Love is a romance. It's the story of a young mouse wooing another. Tully fell in love with Frill the moment he saw her. This is their love story.

Here's how it starts,

"The moment Tully saw Frill, he immediately fell in love. Tully hadn't planned on falling in love. But the cat had chased him under the pantry door, and there was Frill, in the flour bin, prettily powdered. With an eager flutter in his heart. Tully didn't say hello or how do you do? The first words out of his mouth where, "Will you marry me?"

How many proposals will this little mouse have to make before he hears a 'yes'? Read and see for yourself! The book is funny and cute and charming.

I'm not sure on the intended age group on this one. I'm going to say that this one is probably not for the youngest readers in the picture book range (toddlers, preschoolers). There is a lot of text per page. And typically wordy texts--no matter how good the text may be--can't hold short attention spans. It would probably work for the four and up crowd, I'm guessing.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers