Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse [Hardcover]

Lindsay Barrett George (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Once there was
an inside mouse and
an outside mouse.
One day they both
went on a trip. They
traveled up, down,
across, around,
through, between,
behind, over, and under,
until they finally met
in the middle.
Hello!

Are they old friends?
Or new friends?
Did they just meet
today?
Or do they visit
every day?
And what do you think
might happen next
to the inside mouse
and the outside mouse?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-A narrator introduces readers to two mice: "Inside my house there is a mouse,/Outside my house there is a mouse." The inside mouse sleeps in an old-fashioned clock, while the outside mouse snuggles in a tree stump. Line by line, with side-by-side, full-page illustrations, the story unfolds, tracing each mouse's journey from its home to the window of the house, where the two meet face to face, one looking out and one looking in, and say "Hello." Gouache paintings in breathtaking colors create zoom-lens views of each of the not-so-different worlds of these two creatures. The pictures are packed with interesting details just waiting to be explored. The simple text, presented in a large typeface at the bottom of the pages, compares and contrasts the animals' environments and lifestyles. The overall effect is mesmerizing, and the intriguing parallels will capture readers' imaginations. This creative book makes a great choice for sharing aloud and for independent reading. It's also an excellent tool for teaching the concept of compare/contrast.-Wanda Meyers-Hines, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Huntsville, AL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS. George's tale of two mice introduces one who sleeps in the clock and runs between socks in a drawer. His outside counterpart lives in a tree stump and races between rocks. The oversize volume is devoted to pointing out the differences in the way the mice live, what they eat, where they hide, and who their enemies are. But this is not a country mouse/city mouse story. Yes, the mice are adorable, but they aren't humanized-- at least in the story itself (they do, however, touch paws on the cover, and one plays a trumpet on the endpapers). Facing pages depict how their existences differ due to where each one lives. This display of difference, though informative, would have become boring, were it not for George's precisely rendered paintings. The mice frolic against jewel-toned backgrounds so exquisitely detailed that children can spot a tiny bug on a leaf in the background and individual hairs on a cat's coat. Unusual perspectives also add visual interest. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060004665
• ISBN-13: 978-0060004668
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,481,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for Introducing Directional Terms, February 17, 2008

By 

Vicki Bohn "Internet Shopper" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse (Paperback)

I share this book with my three year old to help her learn from the abundance of directional terms found in the story. Directional terms such as up and down are part of early math.

The book features beautiful illustrations and can almost be read as two separate stories brought together at the end where the mice meet. For almost the entirety of the story, the tale does not truly flow, but rather the inside mouse mirrors what the outside mouse is doing, only in a different setting.

It's lots of fun and truly a unique way of accomplishing many things within one book. We enjoy it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars cute story, January 21, 2005

By 

Melissa Sack (georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse (Hardcover)

The main characters in the story are 2 mice. On lives inside and the other outside. Each of them are shown going about their day. They do lots of the same things but encounter different objects in their routines.

The book would make a great teaching tool for the concept of compare/contrast
This book would be nice to read aloud to kids ages 4-6. There are very few word per page keeping the attention of little ones well.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Way to Introduce Prepositions, July 28, 2010

By 

Literary Bookworm (PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse (Paperback)

Mice always seem to capture the imaginations of toddlers and young readers. There's certainly no exception here, as Lindsay Barrett George's _Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse_ introduces two cute mice who go on a journey. The inside mouse lives inside the house while the outside mouse lives out in the yard of the house. Each mouse travels to meet the other. They finally meet in the middle--on the window sill of the house, with the inside mouse looking out at the outside mouse and vice versa. Each mouse must journey through different terrain, but each's journey mirrors the other.

The illustrations are fanciful and add to the cleverness of the story. I read this story to my three year-old, and I'm sure he appreciates the story for the wonderful pictures, cute mice, and story. Yet there is more to the illustrations that older readers will appreciate. The inside mouse runs up a bat to get to the window wile the outside mouse runs up a garden hose. The outside mouse runs in front of a bird while the inside mouse runs in front of a book about birds. As you can guess from the book's title, there are plenty of prepositions, opposites, and directional words in the book that are useful for building vocabularies and understanding the concept of opposites.

The book ends when the two mice meet at the window and say hello to each other. What will they do once they've met? That's up to the imagination of your young reader, but the book contains additional, smaller illustrations in the front and back covers that give children ideas of the fun things that these mice like to do, but lets children provide their own narrative for what will happen next. This is a book that my toddler loves but that I love to read and fancy along with him!