In this companion to acclaimed Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary, Maria (Mary’s daughter) and Mouse Mouse (Mouse’s daughter) are looking for their mothers. They’re not in their bedrooms, their car and cart are still in the driveway, and they are not in the gazebo or under the mushroom! Where could they be? Well, turns out Mary and the Mouse are great friends — just like Maria and MouseMouse — and soon the new generation is in on the old generation’s secret, and vice versa. Sparingly told and beautifully illustrated, this book is every bit as charming as its predecessor. Kids will pore over the minute details of a mouse’s parallel world.
Illustrated by Barbara McClintock
Selected by The New York Times as one of the year’s Ten Best Illustrated Books.
Reviews
“Donofrio and McClintock offer a companion to 2007’s Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary that’s every bit as charming as its predecessor. In the human-scale rooms of her midcentury modern home, Maria spends time with her family; in the subfloor, Mouse Mouse lives with her own. Maria and Mouse Mouse keep their friendship hush-hush, for they fear the adults might acquire a cat. Nevertheless, their parallel lives are peaceful, their environments orderly and calm. One night, from her twin bed, Maria calls, “Oh, Mom?” while Mouse Mouse calls, “Oh, Mommy?” from her clothespin bed. Nobody answers. Neither fathers nor siblings seem worried, and an expectant mood prevails. McClintock pictures the cozy, twinned environments in low-lit panels, and her eggshell–white backgrounds and uncluttered pages allow a pleasurable comparison of human and nonhuman habitats (whereas Maria stands on a stool at the kitchen counter, Mouse Mouse’s chairs are jam jars and pill bottles around a plastic berry container). Fans of the original book will revel in the resolution (and the abundance of visual hints), yet the story is no less delightful for newcomers.”
– Publishers Weekly
“The parallel adventures of a little girl, Maria, and her friend, Mouse Mouse, who realize at the very same time that their mothers have not come in to kiss them goodnight and go off to find them. The idea of a small, usually unseen world next to ours always enchants, all the more so when a denizen of each world befriends the other. The pivotal point here: These two have kept their friendship secret. Maria is afraid her parents will get a cat; Mouse Mouse is sure her parents will move away from the humans…Simple text deftly delineates the similarities between each girl’s mommy–hunt while gloriously detailed illustrations capturing the action appear side by side or in top–and–bottom panels. Tension builds—just enough so that tots’ anxiety quickly turns to delicious anticipation as they begin to guess that maybe the mommies are going to be found…together! The moment of joint discovery is a delightful full–bleed, double–page spread of the two generations together. For those who have read Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary (2007), this is an especially satisfying culmination of the larger story. Irresistible.”
– Kirkus Reviews