A Big Day for Migs

July 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-On his first day of school, a shy mouse named Migs summons his courage by dressing up as a superhero (Mighty Migs) and racing around the room, ruining a puppet show, flinging a stuffed bear, and breaking a train set. He also accidentally destroys a classmate's painting and, despite his best efforts, realizes that some things cannot be repaired. While he feels guilty about upsetting Rokko and hides in a box, Migs eventually unites his class in a mission to bring Rokko's art to life. The charming, quirky animals are evocative of Richard Scarry's characters and Marc Brown's Arthur and friends. Delightful endpapers introduce each character participating in a fun school activity, and the bright colors and array of printed clothing create a lively, vibrant mood throughout. The rhyming couplets clearly and cleverly relate the familiar predicament of overcoming the first-day jitters, even though some word pairs don't exactly share the same ending sounds ("map/back" and "Mum/fun"). There are opportunities for incorporating this title into storytimes and lessons around classroom and social behaviors and working with others.-Whitney LeBlanc, Staten Island Academy, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014
Migs is nervous about his first day of school, but will his solution to shyness help him make friends? Hodgkinson's spot-on rhythms and rhymes keep the story moving as Migs and his Mum walk to school. "She hugs him tight, she waves goodbye. / Migs is trying not to cry." Once in the classroom, he hides behind the "Dressing Up" box, wishing he weren't so shy, then gets an idea. "He finds a hat, a cape, some boots. / He feels so brave in this new suit." But Mighty Migs is a little too mighty for his classmates. The supermouse interrupts a puppet show, destroys Newt's train track and then spills water all over Rokko's painting. A swipe of a cloth, tape and glue fail to fix it, though, and after Rokko sharply dismisses him, Migs sulks in the corner, hiding, until he gets a brilliant idea for making it up to the wronged rabbit. Not only does his plan work, but Migs seems to be over his shyness-rather quick turnarounds. While the message of atoning for wrongdoing is a clear one, readers may not be as creative as Migs with their solutions. Bright cartoon illustrations bring Migs' classroom to life, as well as the emotions writ large upon the animals' faces. From the endpapers labeling Migs' classmates, readers may infer that more titles are forthcoming-it'll be nice to see more of this agreeable crew. (Picture book. 4-7)

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