Laura Joffe Numeroff is best known for her blockbuster children’s picture book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Published in 1985 by Harper Collins, this book is a cautionary tale – if you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for milk, and then a straw, then a napkin, and it will just escalate from there until that little rodent’s got you hopping. With great illustrations by Felicia Bond, this book is one of the most popular children’s books to come out in the last thirty years.
To build on that success, Numeroff wrote several other books along the same lines. In 1991, she and her illustrator released “If You Give A Moose a Muffin.” You’d better be careful – if you give him a muffin, he’s going to want some jam, and then more and more muffins. Soon you’ll run out, and you’ll have to go to the store to get more, and he’ll want to come too. But he’ll want to borrow a sweater, which has a loose button, so he’ll want a needle and thread to sew it back on. I quite enjoyed the illustration of the moose holding the needle – he’s quite the little tailor. As you can guess, the story circles back around until he’s ready for more muffins. I think I liked this one even more than the mouse book – I’m rather fond of a cute moose.
Next came “If You Give a Pig a Pancake.” Our long-suffering host is a girl this time, whereas the child depicted in the first two books was a boy. The girl makes the mistake of offering the pig a pancake, which leads to a marvelous day of playing dress-up and getting everything sticky with syrup. This book was published in 1998, again by Harper Collins.
Last for today is a holiday tale, “If You Take a Mouse to the Movies,” released in 2000. He’s going to want popcorn, which will awaken the desire to string it, put it on a Christmas tree, and then make a snowman. A snowball fight will ensue, and when you take him home to get warm, you’ll see he’s wearing some really snazzy green boxer shorts with candy canes on them.
Always a winning combination, Numeroff and Bond create stories with charm and creativity, complete with some really cute pictures. You’ll enjoy this series — today’s selection was just a sampling. Others in this line include “If You Take a Mouse to School” as well as versions in Spanish.
Oh, but chances are, if you buy the first book, you’ll want the second one to go with it.
Related Blogs:
Ten Top Picture Books for Preschoolers
Great Picture Books For Preschoolers