Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories [Hardcover]

Lore Groszmann Segal (Author), Sergio Ruzzier (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

What's a Mole to do?

Once there was a Mole who lived with his Grandmother Mole in a hole in the forest, and most of the time they get on well enough . . .

But see what happens when Mole loses his glasses, doesn't zip his jacket, shouts, and keeps asking why. What is a Grandmother Mole to do except love him and kiss him on his nose?

Four winning stories combined with Sergio Ruzzier's simple, hilarious illustrations convey the tender bond between a grandmother and her grandson.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Four brief vignettes introduce two appealing characters. In the first, Mole, who never puts anything back where it belongs, keeps losing his glasses. Each time, Grandmother patiently finds them and bends them back into shape. The second story describes how Grandmother makes Mole zip his jacket so that he doesn't catch cold, but she is the one who ends up sick in bed. In the title tale, Mole walks around shouting at the top of his lungs. Grandmother attempts to pinpoint the problem but he isn't tired, hungry, thirsty, or sleepy. She eventually lands on the reason-he just wants to be noticed. The last episode shows Grandmother's creative answers to Mole's repeated question, "Why?" The stories consistently express the love Mole's grandmother feels for him as well as his budding independence balanced by his need for her affection. Throughout, Segal captures the caprice and occasionally challenging nature of young children. The cartoon illustrations have a dreamy, almost surreal quality. The earth-tone palette echoes the characters' underground world. Due to the book's format and the length of the text, this offering is better suited for one-on-one sharing than reading aloud to a group.-Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS. In four funny, tender stories, Mole and Grandmother argue and fuss and care for one another. When Mole can't find his glasses, she discovers that he is sitting on them and bends them back into shape--then it happens again. Grandmother grouses when Mole goes out to play in the snow, but when she gets a cold, he brings her a nice, thick, hot cup of soup in bed. Mole yells and yells and won't stop, until both he and Grandmother realize that he means "Notice me!" In the final story, Mole follows everything Grandmother says with the question "Why?" The warm and immediate scenarios are perfect for the lap-sit crowd, who will also like Ruzzier's small, softly shaded line-and-watercolor pictures. Reminiscent of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad, the characters and situations here are both animal-like and cozily domestic. Best of all is the conversation. The answer to "Why?" is, of course, "Because." Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (April 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374384177
• ISBN-13: 978-0374384173
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Subterranean Homesick Blues, May 13, 2006

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories (Hardcover)

Lore Segal, author of "Tell Me a Mitzi," recognizes the repetitious family scripts through which participants communicate something deeper than the surface talk. When an adult repeatedly asks a child to put on a coat, and the typical response is resistance, it's not just about the weather: One party is communicating genuine concern and a bit of control, and the recalcitrant one's protests represent a bid for independence and responsibility. Segal's four stories about a mole and her grandson share this theme of real yet "scripted" conflict, and one gets the feeling that their arguments have been rehearsed many times.

For example, in one of the four stories here, the two disagree about young Mole wearing a coat in the snow. Segal, as she does in two of the stories, introduces a fact related to the conflict: "Now you may or may not know that moles wear thick fur jackets" (similarly, "Now you may or may not know this-[moles] can't see without their glasses on." Mole only puts on some of the warm clothes; his grandmother sits by the fire and wears the wool coat that Mole was supposed to wear. Mole gets home, and his grandmother-quite inexplicably-has a cold, and says to the healthy child "I told you not to go out in the wind and snow!" Talk about boundary issues... Still, this ironic humor will be lost on most children, it's not that funny really, and it's beyond a lot of kids' understanding.

In general, other stories share the same problem: An interesting premise (You can tell by the titles: "Why Mole Shouted," "Why Mole Asked Why," "When Mole Lost His Glasses") followed by a fairly prosaic resolution with a little warmth and (directed, it seems, more at adults than at the child audience) but little humor or development. (I did, however, enjoy the rhyme of "serviettes" with "ant vinaigrette" in "Why Mole Asked Why.")

Sergio Ruzzier creates a wonderful little Mole-environment that fits the mysterious woods and their various creatures. It looks a bit like a forest and a bit like a dessert, with touches of Dali, very early animation, and a bit of Alice in Wonderland. These add a great deal of visual interest, and help disguise the observations about people that Segal makes through her moles. Unfortunately the stories' content and format (each story is divided into two small chapters, another device that seems contrives and adds little to the book) are simply not engaging enough for the illustrator to transform into a more than an average book.

The book has appealing characters, realistic communication problems, and excellent pictures, but the stories are mostly disappointing.

2.0 out of 5 stars Two boys' review: Interesting character, uninteresting stories, January 30, 2009

By 

Jared Castle (Roseburg, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories (Hardcover)

The book contains four stories:

When Mole Lost His Glasses
When Mole Wouldn't Zip His Jacket
Why Mole Shouted
Why Mole Asked Why

We expected at least one story to stand out. That didn't happen. In fact, the book survived only a single bedtime reading with my sons, ages 6 and 4. By the time we reached the final story, the only enjoyment they derived from the book was seeing how many times the word "mole" appeared.

The first story (When Mole Lost His Glasses) was what drew me to the book in the first place since my youngest son wears glasses. I'd hoped for a lesson on self responsibility but instead got a meandering (two chapters!) story that ended like this:

"Here you are," said Grandmother Mole. "I've fixed them."

Mole put on his glasses and kissed his grandmother and said, "You are my good Grandmother Mole."

"And you are my dear Mole," said Grandmother Mole, "even if you're never going to remember to put anything back where it belongs."

We cannot recommend this book. If you are looking for an early reader book or a bedtime story for young children that features animals, try Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad series or Owl at Home; or Elsa Holmelund Minarik's Little Bear; and, naturally, A.A. Milne's original series of Winnie-the-Pooh books.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tender and upbeat story, May 18, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories (Hardcover)

Why Mole Shouted And Other Stories is a charming and highly recommended picture book featuring four short stories by Lore Segal about a little mole who lives with his grandmother. Daily conflicts and problems including the little mole losing his glasses, shouting, and endlessly asking why make for a funny and touching story to share about the enduring bonds of family. A tender and upbeat story, featuring comical and colorful illustrations by Sergio Ruzzier.