Common Sense Media Review
By Jan Carr
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Charming early reader about two adorable brothers.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
What's the Story?
CHARLIE & MOUSE is composed of four short chapters, each with a simple vignette. In the first one, Charlie wakes up his brother Mouse and his parents early in the morning in anticipation of a neighborhood party. In the second, Charlie and Mouse collect neighborhood friends and parade to the playground, where it turns out that they themselves are the party. In the third, the brothers attempt to make some money by loading up their wagon with rocks in hopes of selling them to the neighbors. And in the final story, their mom agrees to their request for "a bedtime banana" as she tucks them into bed.
Is It Any Good?
You can't get much sweeter than these two irresistible brothers, who make their own fun in four simple stories that evoke a playful, easygoing childhood. The chapters in Charlie & Mouse are episodic and short, but structured shrewdly. In "Rocks," the boys collect rocks to sell to the neighbors for spending money. Though the neighbors don't want to buy rocks, they offer to pay them to remove some, so the boys earn just enough for an ice cream each -- leaving them back where they started. The dialogue feels real. When the boys ask for "bedtime bananas," the mom says, "Is that a thing?" and "Sweet dreams, little monkeys." The first two stories are linked, and the last one references the first, ensuring a satisfying, rounded feel.
Illustrator Emily Hughes has created a lovable crew of mop-top urchins and infuses the illustrations with humor. When the brothers rouse their parents at 5:45, the dad looks seriously bleary-eyed. And in one of the book's funniest pictures, when Charlie wishes for some money, he and Mouse are shown tearing apart the couch cushions, where we see a remote and a book, but no coins. Hughes supplies much of the relaxed diversity. When Mouse troops off to the neighborhood party, he's wearing a pink tutu. And the boys stop for ice cream at "Sakamoto's Shave Ice."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the kids in Charlie & Mouse. Do you ever get ideas to do or plan things like they do? What are your ideas? Do you involve your siblings and friends?
What do you know about this family and this neighborhood from the words in the story? What do you know about it from the pictures in the art?
Have you ever read a book with chapters before? Do these chapters feel like separate stories to you? How do they work together to make one story?
Book Details
- Author: Laurel Snyder
- Illustrator: Emily Hughes
- Genre: For Beginning Readers
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters , Friendship
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Chronicle Books
- Publication date: April 11, 2017
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 4 - 8
- Number of pages: 48
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: ALA Best and Notable Books
- Last updated: February 10, 2020
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