Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I told you–December is going to be a “you never know when I’m blogging” sort of month, and so today you get a second book review. Why?

1. Because I’m a bit behind.
2. Because it’s supposed to snow all day and so I’m staying home and doing House Things.

I guess I should clarify that–I’m not working ON my house, I’m just doing things IN my house that need doing. Like laundry (I just put the second load in!), dishes (my dishwasher’s running and I washed my old (no removable inner pot) crockpot AND my rice cooker inner pot by hand), book reviews (my second today–go me!), prepping fruit leather base (next on my agenda), and wrapping for Christmas (I’ll be doing that while my fruit cooks down). And SO, in the interest of moving on down my list…

I decided to listen to Word of Mouse primarily because I was considering it as a Christmas gift for my son; by the time I finished it, however, I’d run into a snag. Apparently his teacher brought 5 or so of her favorite books to school–wrapped, perhaps?–and read teasers from them aloud before having interested students pick numbers to see who was closest and won the book in question. My son told me he was second closest but the first closest guesser had already gotten a book, so he won a book in school about a mouse.

That wasn’t by Beverly Cleary.

And that’s all he could remember about it. LITERALLY.

So. He said he’d bring it home and show me, but we’ve been crazy here and I don’t know if it’s even made it home yet. Good thing I realized he’d probably like the “Flashback Four” series as well, because I can’t order Word of Mouse for him unless and until he brings home the other book and I verify that it’s something else. Good times!

In the meantime, Word of Mouse was, to pick a cliche, good clean fun. Isaiah the blue mouse escapes from the “Horrible Place” with his family, but the rest of them are all caught again, leaving him free but alone and trying to figure out how to fend for himself. Luckily, he ends up joining another mouse ‘family’ and finding there’s far more inside and outside of himself than he ever dreamed possible. At almost 300 frequently illustrated pages, it’s a nice longer book for more reluctant readers, transitioning readers, and readers looking for adventures that always end safely. (Also animal fans.) Maybe if the book from his teacher is something different, he can get it for his birthday?