Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip

February 15, 2017
The dedicated postal worker who first appeared in Mr. Postmouse's Rounds (2015) returns with his entire family for a much bigger adventure. It's time for the family to go on vacation, but if Mr. Postmouse's local deliveries are any indication, it won't be a lazy day at the beach. In fact, Mr. Postmouse, Mrs. Postmouse, and their three little mice travel the world, going from campsite to ocean cruise to desert oasis to city. In each location, Dubuc's double-page spreads show cross sections of animals' house interiors: there is a sloth's treetop dwelling, a dragon's volcano lair, and even a lizard's cozy home inside a cactus. They're rendered in careful, cute detail. It feels like a busy critter cast of thousands, making every page one to be examined for minutes at a time. A lot of the text, which serves mostly to explain each setting and move the family along, is perfunctory ("And then it's a quick city stop!"). It's the playful, witty worldbuilding drawings that do the heavy lifting and tell dozens of individual stories. By the time the Postmouses take to the skies in a hot air balloon, readers could be forgiven for being as exhausted as the family of mice, ready to return home. And that they do, having apparently brought home a penguin in a suitcase and lots of memories from around the world. This one's playfulness invites repeat readings, and like Mr. Postmouse, it delivers consistently. (Picture book. 3-7)

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March 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-In this second book about the little mail carrier, Mr. Postmouse closes the post office and takes a vacation with his family, bringing a few parcels for delivery, because "a postmouse's rounds are never done!" From the first page, delighted readers will enter effortlessly into Mr. Postmouse's world of tiny cross-sections and effluvia. The first stop is the forest. Viewers look inside Aunt Claudette's tiny camper and a tent the Postmouse children are tidying for the night. But what is that in the corner? Tiny stories-within-the-story: Hansel and Gretel just arriving at the witch's house, a ladybug roasting an aphid, some rabbit scouts on a hike. Throughout, there are opportunities to name everyday items: key, acorns, a tiny blue car. For older readers, there's a "wanted" poster for a masked robin...could it be Robin Hood? The mice continue their travels to the beach, onto a cruise ship (check out the homage to Babar), to a tropical island (is that Richard Scarry's Huckle Cat peering from behind a bush?), to a desert oasis, and more. Dubuc's text consists of short, descriptive dialogue and sentences that move the family from place to place; the real tale is the one that readers will tell as they make connections among the details. VERDICT Great for vocabulary development, text-to-text connection, stamina-building, and storytelling; pair this charming, calming selection with Scarry's "Busytown" titles, Macmillan Picture Wordbook, and Lisa Brown's Airplane Book.-Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence

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