"The Mouse and the Meadow" Children's Book Review

            Welcome to our last review of Dawn Publications Spring 2014 book releases! I hope you all have been enjoying these sneak previews as much as I enjoyed reviewing the books! Again, these books will be available in the spring of next year, most likely around March or April, so be sure to check their website when the time gets closer at www.dawnpub.com.

            Today's book is The Mouse and the Meadow, which was written and illustrated by Chad Wallace. I have to admit that this was my favorite. I think the main reason for this is because I feel like the author did a great job of writing the story in such a way that you can't help but feel empathetic towards the mouse.

            This is a "coming of age" tale about a small meadow mouse who sets out from his mother's nest one day and learns about life in his greater meadow home on his own. you can probably guess, he meets many new friends and enemies along the way. Some of his friends include an old box turtle who warns him of the dangers of the field, a mother rabbit who is kind enough to offer him a warm, safe place to sleep, and even another mouse who helps him narrowly escape an attack from an owl! As mentioned, he learns the hard way about some of the dangers the meadow offers and has run-ins with snakes, weasles, and great horned owls.

            As I mentioned in my last review, I am a fan of things that rhyme, so I was happy to see The Mouse and the Meadow was written with rhymes! This book is also suggested for children ages 4-10, but you should know by now that I think it's never too early to start reading to your children! ...Assuming you can get your child to sit still long enough to hear an entire story...Which I usually cannot. lol

            As with the rest of the Dawn Publications books, there are further resources and activities to do with children/students at the end of the book. There is also a discussion on altruism in nature as well as how animals communicate with one another, which is actually pretty interesting, so be sure not to skip that! There will also be an interactive book app available on Dawn Pub's website when the print book is released, so keep an eye open for that as well!