Mice Skating

October 2, 2017
Lucy the mouse is an outlier: she loves winter—and the wool cap that “kept her heart warm” in addition to her head—but her friends and burrow-mates Mona, Millie, and Marcello plan on hunkering down until spring. After Lucy discovers the magic of ice skating (on homemade pine needle skates, no less), she redoubles her efforts to share winter’s magic with her pals. Cream-colored pages make White’s mouse-size world all the more charming and snug, and readers will enjoy perusing the details of Lucy’s life, such as her sardine-tin bed. Marcello’s habit of speaking in puns is cheesy in multiple senses (“Tired of being prov-alone?” he asks Lucy after she’s spent another day outdoors by herself), but Lucy’s determination and enthusiasm carry the story. Ages 3–up. Author’s agent: Liza Voges, Eden Street Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Nicole Tugeau, Tugeau 2.

December 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-Lucy, a little brown field mouse, loves winter. She loves to frolic in the frosty air, make snow angels and build snowmice. Lucy's three mousy friends huddle in their den with a crackling fire and lots of cheese. She tries to convince her friends of all the great things about winter, such as snowball fights and snow cones, but they would rather wait for warmth and budding flowers before returning outside. One day, Lucy discovers ice skating. She has so much fun that she must figure out a way to share ice skating with her friends. She makes ice skates out of pine needles and knits them warm caps. After giving her friends her handiwork, Lucy and her now knit-capped friends venture outdoors. Lucy skates. She looks like she is flying. Excited, her friends try to skate and after a few wobbles they are all flying across the ice together. Ivory pages filled with watercolor and pencil illustrations of cute dark-eyed mice and wintry scenes will delight children. The illustrations rely on heavy use of black, brown, and green, and spare use of other colors. VERDICT Winter lovers and summertime kids will both be able to enjoy Lucy's enthusiasm for all things frosty. A sweet seasonal offering.-Mindy Hiatt, Salt Lake County Library Services

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2017
When readers open up this book the first thing some of them will think is: "Is that real gold?" This picture book seems to be flecked with gold. It might be a trick of the light, or a reflection on the page, but there appear to be golden sparks flickering around the fireplace and golden shoots sprouting in the fields. Gold highlights would destroy most picture books. They'd look gaudy or distracting, but the effect here is so subtle that it might be nothing but readers' imaginations. Gold fits here: the other colors in the illustrations are soothing--they're the natural greens of grass and trees and the pale orange of wood--but they don't look quite real. The titular mice in the story look like geometric patterns rather than woodland creatures. And it's beautiful. The colors glow. The story is comforting but very simple: Lucy wants to go ice skating, but her friends would rather stay indoors, until she knits them warm hats. The plot is so basic that some readers may skim over it and focus on the glowing colors, and that's a perfectly sensible option, because the text is filled with terrible puns about cheese: "Your teeth are cheddar-ing!" Some may flip through this book again and again, not even reading it, just enjoying the pictures and searching for gold. (Picture book. 3-7)

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