Mouse Shapes [Hardcover]

Ellen Stoll Walsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2007 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

What can you make with one oval, two circles, and eight triangles? Just ask three clever mice--who even find a funny way to trick a sneaky cat.
           

Ellen Stoll Walsh once again proves that she’s a master of concept books in this celebration of shapes, color, and innovation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When three little mice run from a cat, they find a cluster of brightly colored squares, triangles, rectangles, circles, ovals, and diamonds where they hide until he leaves. Soon they are moving the shapes about to create pictures: a house, a wagon, and even a cat. After the real cat pounces, they hatch a clever plan to scare him away. Just as visually appealing as Mouse Paint (1989) and Mouse Count (1991), this little book features simple, elegant page design using cut-and-torn-paper collage figures silhouetted against a clean, white background and framed by a strong black rectangle. Walsh accomplishes her purpose of teaching shapes subtly and playfully through the text and illustrations. Though the statement "any shape with three sides is a triangle" wouldn't pass muster in a geometry class, it may not raise much concern in the preschool or kindergarten classroom. Parents and teachers can easily extend the lesson and the fun by providing cutout colored-paper shapes for children to play with after the story ends. Phelan, Carolyn

Review

 PreS, Another concept book by Walsh that has a simple story line and cut-paper collages. When a cat chases three mice, they hide in a heap of colorful shapes and make an assortment of pictures using them. First they use a square with a triangle on top to create a perfect house; later, they add two circles to a rectangle to make a wagon. They finally combine a bunch of shapes to create "three big scary mice" that frighten the cat away. The collage technique works well for distinguishing the brightly colored shapes, and the simple story is pitched perfectly for sharing with the youngest of listeners. Shelley B. Sutherland (School Library Journal )

When three little mice run from a cat, they find a cluster of brightly colored squares, triangles, rectangles, circles, ovals, and diamonds where they hide until he leaves. Soon they are moving the shapes about to create pictures: a house, a wagon, and even a cat. After the real cat pounces, they hatch a clever plan to scare him away. Just as visually appealing as Mouse Paint (1989) and Mouse Count (1991), this little book features simple, elegant page design using cut-and-torn-paper collage figures silhouetted against a clean, white background and framed by a strong black rectangle. Walsh accomplishes her purpose of teaching shapes subtly and playfully through the text and illustrations. Though the statement "any shape with three sides is a triangle" wouldn't pass muster in a geometry class, it may not raise much concern in the preschool or kindergarten classroom. Parents and teachers can easily extend the lesson and the fun by providing cutout colored-paper shapes for children to play with after the story ends.
(Booklist -Carolyn Phelan )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015206091X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152060916
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ELLEN STOLL WALSH is the author and illustrator of many award-winning early concept books for young children, including Mouse Paint, Mouse Count, and the Dot and Jabber trilogy. She lives near Rochester, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, August 17, 2009

By 

E. Bateman (Southeast, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mouse Shapes (Hardcover)

My almost-3-year-old son and I came across this book for the first time during library story time. My son talked about it so much afterward that I decided to check it out from the library. He calls it "the scary mice book" because, in the story, the small mice use shapes to make bigger versions of themselves to scare away the sneaky cat. He knows his shapes, but this book is great for reinforcement and to show what things can be made when shapes are put together. When my son plays with his rubber shapes he likes to try to make the things the mice make in the book. I would imagine it would also work well for teaching a child who doesn't yet know his shapes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the other ones, April 17, 2011

By 

K. Strand (Phila., PA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mouse Shapes (Hardcover)

I love this author's first two 'Mouse' books, 'Mouse

Count' & 'Mouse Paint'. Both books had a natural, believable flow that reflected the way young children think and learn. This one seems more forced, like she was responding to demands for another basic concepts book rather than writing it on her own. I especially dislike that the shapes are used to represent things- that's a skill of older kids & quite different from the simple, incedental learning that occurs via the mice inthe first two books. The art is still great, but overall it missed the mark- it was younger child structured but possessed older child concepts- feh.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ellen Stoll Walsh Does it Again!, April 25, 2009

By 

M. Mahan - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mouse Shapes (Hardcover)

If you liked Mouse Paint, you will LOVE this book. The mice are darling - the story is very cute - and you can use it to teach shapes to your favorite small person.