Mouse's Birthday [Hardcover]

Jane Yolen (Author), Bruce Degen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Mouse's tiny little house becomes the scene of a very large birthday party, when Cat, Dog, Horse, Cow, and Farmer arrive for the celebration, and suddenly Mouse needs a new house, in a whimsical cumulative rhyme. Jr Lib Guild.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These prolific, versatile collaborators ( Dinosaur Dances ; the Commander Toad series) here offer a disarming tale, populated by a cast with all the zest of the best nursery rhyme creations. Fashioned from bits of hay, Mouse's house sits in the corner of a barn. It is "very small, very small. Hardly any room at all / For anyone but Mouse." But on the tiny creature's birthday, some nattily dressed visitors come bearing an amusing array of gifts, and--delightfully implausibly--all manage to cram into the diminutive dwelling. As Cat, Dog, Cow and Horse snuggle close to Mouse, "In comes Farmer on his knees, / Carrying a brown valise, / Trying very hard to squeeze / Into Mouse's house." The overcrowding ends the second that Mouse overzealously blows out the candle on his cake, causing the sides of his house--and all his furnishings and gifts--to fly into the air. As the hay settles, the startled guests kick up their heels for what turns out to be a dual celebration. Typically spirited and endearingly humorous, Degen's art is the ideal match for Yolen's jaunty rhyme. The alternation of large-scale likenesses (in sprawling, borderless paintings) with smaller, neatly framed vignettes proves beguiling--and utterly appropriate. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

It's Mouse's birthday, and--one by one--his friends (cat, dog, cow, horse, farmer) squeeze into the tiny, well-appointed straw house where Mouse lives in a quiet corner of the barn. Miraculously, they all fit; but when Mouse blows out his single birthday candle, the house flies apart like the one-hoss shay, leaving Mouse and the others in his ``new house''--the capacious hayloft, where there's room for everyone. Told in simple, repetitive verse, a funny story that'll be a good choice for very young groups. The humorous, large figures of Mouse's friends dominate Degen's brightly colored illustrations in amusing contrast to the appealing little Mouse. (Picture book. 2-6) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (March 24, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399221891
• ISBN-13: 978-0399221897
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,529,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in New York City, Jane Yolen now lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College and received her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. The distinguished author of more than 170 books, Jane Yolen is a person of many talents. When she is not writing, Yolen composes songs, is a professional storyteller on the stage, and is the busy wife of a university professor, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother. Active in several organizations, Yolen has been on the Board of Directors of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1986 to 1988, is on the editorial board of several magazines, and was a founding member of the Western New England Storytellers Guild, the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild, and the Bay State Writers Guild. For twenty years, she ran a monthly writer's workshop for new children's book authors. In 1980, when Yolen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by Our Lady of the Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts, the citation recognized that "throughout her writing career she has remained true to her primary source of inspiration--folk culture." Folklore is the "perfect second skin," writes Yolen. "From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world." Folklore, she believes, is the universal human language, a language that children instinctively feel in their hearts. All of Yolen's stories and poems are somehow rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate papercut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen's relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr's exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband's interest in birding. Yolen's graceful rhythms and outrageous rhymes have been gathered in numerous collections. She has earned many awards over the years: the Regina Medal, the Kerlan Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Society of Children's Book Writers Award, the Mythopoetic Society's Aslan Award, the Christopher Medal, the Boy's Club Jr. Book Award, the Garden State Children's Book Award, the Daedalus Award, a number of Parents' Choice Magazine Awards, and many more. Her books and stories have been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Afrikaans, !Xhosa, Portuguese, and Braille. With a versatility that has led her to be called "America's Hans Christian Andersen," Yolen, the child of two writers, is a gifted and natural storyteller. Perhaps the best explanation for her outstanding accomplishments comes from Jane Yolen herself: "I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told."