Lighthouse Mouse by Anne Adeney illustrated by Lisa Smith

This is a tiny and probably inconsequential book but I just wanted to share the impact of this story on a young reader in my school.  This little Kindergarten boy has moved from class home reader style books to using our library nearly every day.  This is a wonderful achievement and one that only a tiny number of students achieve during their first year at school.

I gave this boy Lighthouse Mouse last week partly because  I adore lighthouses and we have one near our school.  When he returned the book his smile was wide.  He loved the interaction between the mouse and the cat because it was completely unexpected :

"Cat woke and pounced!
Mouse was trapped!
But cat did not bite, scratch or hiss.
Instead, she gave Mouse a little kiss."

Even with a very controlled vocabulary, Anne Adeney has managed to produce a very satisfying story.  This book comes from the Leapfrog series - we have a large number in our library.