Goodnight, Mice! / Frances Watts and Judy Watson
(ABC Books, 2013)
This book and I didn’t get off to the best start. On the very first page, two rhyming paragraphs have different lengths and rhythms, and it threw me. When I read a rhyming book, especially when it’s aloud to my children, I like to find the rhythm early and stick with it.
But then the book settles into a steady rhythm, and into the bedtime routine for Mitzi, Billy, Clementine and baby Oliver. The routines are familiar, the relationships between the siblings, parents and grandparents adorable, and the familiar ‘mice’ rhyme pops up throughout. And the illustrations are oh-so-cute!
Goodnight, Mice! is a good read, and while it might not get a standing ovation from me, it certainly gets a round of applause. But my (four-and-a-half-year-old) daughter certainly gives it a standing ovation, with cries of, “Encore! ENCORE!”
In our house, it’s always read twice or thrice.
Then it’s time for bed. Goodnight, Hawker Mice.
Recommended for children aged three and up. You can buy Goodnight, Mice! from Booktopia here, or you can try your luck at your local Australia Post shop, where we picked it up together with three other titles for $14.95.
Have you read Goodnight, Mice!? What did you think?
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I’m like you – I need to find the rhyme early on in the book otherwise there’s almost no point. The illustrations look very cute, though.
It threw me, but it’s just the first rhyme that’s different, then the book flies!
I hate reading kids books where the words don;t flow easily. Still looks like a cute story. #FYBF
It is super cute!
I don’t know what it is about them, but mice, bees and owls get me every single time. What a sweet book, but I don’t know if I can overlook a book without rhythm!! x
I may have to revisit this post – it’s just the first page. And there’s still rhythm, just two different rhythms! The first read was awkward – we’re on track now.