[.ca] The Mother's Day Mice (ISBN 0899197027)

Too scary for children!:
Though I like the idea of this book, as well as the talent behind the illustrations, after reading this to my children and seeing their anxiety about the huge, menacing black cat that scares the mice, my husband and I have decided not to read this anymore to them. The mouse family is sweet, and the intent of the story is admirable, with the littlest mouse giving his mother a thoughtful gift for Mother's Day. I understand that most plots have some type of conflict that is resolved, but we discovered that the cat in this book was too scary for young children. There is a full-page illustration of this cat's scary face and head which is unnecessary, I believe, to make this story a success. We absolutely love reading stories to our children, and in fact, don't watch T.V. as we want books to be a bigger part of their lives. I understand that some people value exposing their children to scariness in books as a way to explain these things in the safety of their home, but sometimes images can remain in a child's mind for a long time, and if it comes from a contrived situation, such as in a fictional story, the child may find it harder to reconcile within the context of real life. We found that our children had a hard time appreciating the point of the story, because they were too thrown by the big, black cat. These happen to be children who live on a farm and have a pet cat themselves! They've dealt with real-life "scariness" such as the death of animals, nearby sightings of bears, foxes and other wild animals...etc., but all of these fit within the context of their lives. I books, they seem to appreciate images and text that work well together-in this case, the cat is bigger than life.

The Mother's Day Mice:
I thought that this story is an excellent story for young children and their mothers to read together. This story about three, cute little mice is precious. They want to find the perfect present for their mother. The Little Mouse is the sweetest character I have read about in a while. They pass some dangerous situations as they search the meadow for the gifts. The surprise at the end of the story will make you so happy, that'll you'd do that for your mother! The story is a very cute story to read, especially around Mother's Day. The illustrations in it are very, very well done and the mice are the cutest mice ever!

The Most Wonderful Gift!:
This is another heart warming story. It shows how much love there is for family and what family will do to do something special for the people they love. The mice were searching for special gifts for Mother Mouse on Mother's day..... and Little Mouse found the most wonderful gift of all!!! I think it's a very sweet book on how much family will do for each other. It tells what the little mice had to do to get their mother their own special present for a special day.

The Best Present of All:
Big Mouse, Middle Mouse and Little Mouse (shades of the 3 bears) are so excited about Mother's Day that they are up two hours early. They hurry outside to find their parents. Little wants to give Mother a spray of honeysuckle, but Cat is sleeping on the porch of Honeysuckle Cottage. Soon it's too late to pick the flowers, so the mice hurry home. Little is sad because he has no gift for Mother, but soon he thinks of the very best present of all. Beautifully illustrated, with rich and tender prose, this book is a special one with a lovely message about a gift that lives forever. Sunnye Tiedemann (aka Ruth F. Tiedemann)

Greatest gfift is not the most expensive!:
Favorite characters: Biggest Little Mouse, Middle Mouse, Little Mouse, and Mother This book is about three mice who want to each get their mother a gift for Mother's Day. Each mouse wants to get the best gift, but it ends up being the littlest mouse who gets her the most unusual gift of all. A nice book illustrated with colorful pictures that show these three little mice along their journey for presents. A nice story that shows how to share your love for your mother on Mother's Day.