Here is the blurb: Crumbs on the counter, morsels on the floor – there should be plenty of food for Minetta the mouse to eat in Hollyhock House … But the Ruling Rats are running rampage every night, taking the best of everything for themselves. Minetta has decided that enough is enough – it’s time the rats learn to share. The trouble is, Minetta is so small and her voice just a squeak. How will she ever make them listen …?
Now that you have read the blurb take a closer look at the front cover. This might be a way to introduce the word megaphone to your young reading companion. Possibly, also, young readers may not have ever seen a cotton reel - there is a whole wonderful discussion to be had about this too. You might also like to talk about the title and the pun of squeaker versus speaker.
Next make sure you look at the end papers with their brightly pink polka dot pattern and the little quizzes found inside the front and back dust jackets - these are a delightful addition in all of the Little Gem titles.
After reading the story you could think about why the owl is named Sage and the idea of sage advice. Then there are the themes of negotiation, conflict resolution, bravery, finding a voice, confidence and team work. All of this in a tiny illustrated 84 page book!
Minetta does confront the rats with the wonderful support of her community - the other animals in the house and garden but the part of this story that I enjoyed the most was the ending. It is rare to find a book for a young audience with an open ending that invites more thought or perhaps even inspires some writing. Here are the final lines of the book:
"The first thing we need to talk about,' she said to all the animals and birds around her, 'is sharing food.' One by one, the mice and doves, the voles and hedgehogs, and even the rats sat down and they listened."
If you haven't discovered the Little Gems series published by Barrington Stoke can I suggest you try to find some soon. These books are perfect easy chapter books for newly independent readers. This story has just 12 very short chapters. You could plan to read one or two each night as a family read aloud. The chapters have fun titles: Half a peanut and a speak of cheese; Some Sage advice; and No room for a Mouse.
My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has an extensive Pinterest collection of books featuring mice. Here are some other books about heroic mice for young readers. I especially recommend hunting out the Squeak Street chapter books by Emily Rodda:
You can see other books illustrated by Paula Bowles here. Pip Jones is the author of the Squishy McFluff books. There are seven titles in this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment