Little Mouse gets ready by Jeff Smith

It is time to go. Little Mouse is not quite ready. Every toddler and young child will recognise the struggles of Little Mouse. First thing, on go the underpants. "Check for the tag. That's at the back." Next it's socks, pants, shoes and those pesky jacket buttons. "I did it. I'm READY!"

Spoiler alert - here are the next lines of the conversation between Little Mouse and his mum:

'Little Mouse? Are you ready to go?'

'YES, Mama!'

'Why, Little Mouse! WHAT are you doing?'

'What do you mean, Mama?'

'Well ... mice don't wear clothes!'

Little Mouse gets ready is a beginning chapter book and it is a Toon book. It won an honour in the 2010 Theodore Geisel Awards. I am so lucky to visit an amazing school library each week where the Teacher-Librarian has collected a very large number of Toon titles. These are perfect for the youngest readers who are just gaining confidence with print. You can see some pages from Little Mouse gets ready here.

I know that every time I review one I say, "This one’s the best!" but I think Little Mouse Gets Ready actually is. If you haven’t seen a TOON Book before, this is a good place to start. Cute and surreal all at once; my favorite combination. Elizabeth Bird School Library Journal

All of this effort by the Little Mouse to put on his clothes reminded me of the scenes from Sunshine by Jan Ormerod.