Red House, Tree House, Little Bitty Brown Mouse

Starred review from July 15, 2019
Preschoolers can follow a little brown mouse on its traveling adventures in this engaging color concept book. As the book starts, a little mouse can be seen packing up her equally itty-bitty suitcase. Rhyming text with a wonderful read-aloud rhythm introduces readers to the little mouse's street: "Red house / Blue house / Green house / Tree house! / See the tiny mouse / in her little brown house?" Clean-lined, colorful illustrations in Gómez's signature style lead readers along: into a flower-filled garden; on a ride on a red city bus; in a potted windowsill plant attended by a child; on the curb where a group of people wait to cross a street; in an underwater scene with "one gigantic whale!"; and on a jolly ride that employs a string of vehicles. The little mouse is not mentioned again, making it easy for readers to forget it as they get caught up in the myriad delightful details of each illustration. No problem there. The book ends with "and did you spot that mouse?" This should send children back to the beginning, this time in earnest search of the little mouse and her itty-bitty suitcase. Should children need further enticement to read the book again, travel patches on the endpapers invite readers to match them to the relevant part in the story. The people depicted are diverse both racially as well as in physical ability. Delightful and engaging. (Picture book. 3-5)

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August 1, 2019

Toddler-PreS-On the title page, a little mouse packs her suitcase and then she's off! She travels around the world through busy, colorful spreads until she arrives-back home! The text offers multiple opportunities for reader interaction: counting, identifying colors, answering questions, and of course, finding the mouse on every page. The majority of the rhyming lines scan well. If a few feel a bit short, young readers will most likely not notice-they will be too busy scanning the illustrations, naming objects, and looking for the little mouse. Once the book has been read a few times and the mouse found, flip to the end pages for a new game. Match the patches on the endpapers with the related story images throughout the book. VERDICT A fun concept book for the very young with a seek-and-find element for slightly older, more savvy readers.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 16, 2019
As a “little bitty” suitcase-toting mouse goes on a journey, the reader tags along, engaging in a rhythmic, interactive story. The book calls for engagement on multiple levels: conveying basic concepts of color and counting (“Can you count the petals/ in the garden bed?), building language skills in the rhymes, and playing seek-and-find for the mouse on each spread. Even the travel patch–dotted endpapers spark activity: a note tells readers that they can “match the picture in each patch to its related image in the story.” Zoomy verse paces the journey and often directs questions at the reader (“Pink shoes/ blue shoes/ green shoes/ red./ Shoes go on your feet./ What goes on your head?”). Gómez’s sunny and delicate spreads are the star of the show, encouraging readers to pause on elements such as characters in city windows and bric-a-brac in mouse’s tree house. An appealing, educational mix of stop and go. Ages 3–5.