If I Were a Mouse - eBook

Karma Wilson's first poem was published at the tender age of six. The poem was ironically titled, "I Don't Wanna Write a Poem!" Growing up, she had no desire to write. But Providence had different plans, and now Karma writes poems for a living when she's not busy being a wife and raising three kids. Karma is the bestselling author of Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More, as well as If I Were a Mouse, Give Thanks to the Lord, and I Will Rejoice.

A little boy watches a mouse climb a tree. "If I were a mouse," he dreams. His dream mouse imagines itself as an owl. The owl imagines itself as a squirrel. Each dream animal carries the imagining onward until a cat imagines itself as the boy. The boy rouses from his imagining and praises God for "making me, ME!"

Zonderkidz does it again. This is a delightful book, both for the child who reads or hears it, and for the adult who reads it to a child. It is also a perfect book for the emerging reader. If I Were a Mouse dances poetically, is a situation recognizable to most children, and has words which pre-readers and new readers will know. New York Times bestselling author and poet Karma Wilson brings imagination, joy, and sweetness, as well as capability to her stories. Award-winning children's book illustrator and scenographer for animated films, Marsella Hajdinjak-Krec provides eye-delighting, full-page, spilling-over-with-color pictures which truly illuminate the narrative. If I Were a Mouse will be valuable in church, home, classroom and school libraries, and will make a most welcome gift. – Donna Eggett, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com

A little boy narrates this rhyming story as he imagines what it would be like to be different animals. He imagines himself as a mouse, owl, squirrel, bird and cat, with the cat leading the narrative back to the boy in his bedroom, getting ready for bed. The concluding lines, the only religious content in the book, refer to God as “father, creator and friend,” thanking him for making the child who he is. The verse---just mundane rhymes about the way the animals move or where they live---has an old-fashioned, sing-song quality and isn’t particularly interesting or creative. Soft-focus illustrations show traditional scenes of homes and a farm; there's some added interest for sharp-eyed young readers with a repeating device of a knitted scarf on each animal and blue-striped shirts on the boy and several animals. (The rusty-red squirrel in a striped shirt with 17 seeds hidden in his cheeks seems ready to run right off the page and find a more exciting story to star in.) The final illustration in the little boy’s room includes toys, a lamp and curtains echoing the other characters and their homes. The religious content in the last spread seems tacked on to fit this story into a particular slot rather than any meaningful effort to connect children with God. -- Kirkus Reviews