Chilren's Fantasy Book

 If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

 

Summary:

In this book, a little boy gives a mouse a cookie, and this strikes up a series of activities that the mouse wanted to do. Each activity provokes the mouse's thought of the next activity/ thing he wants to do.. he was given a cookie, which made him want a glass a milk,  then a straw,  then a napkin, etc. At the end of the book, the mouse wanted another cookie.

Evaluate by genre and illustrations:

The genre of this book is fantasy, specifically "animal fantasy and miniature worlds." This type of fantasy is when an animal is portrayed as having the same kinds of thoughts and actions as a human would. 

The illustrations were done using outline style, which can help the reader to understand the story even without reading the words. They also include the elements of line and color to attract the readers attention.

 

Activity:

A good activity for a child would be for them to think of an animal, whether it be their own pet, an animal from the wild, or even an imaginary creature, and tell their own story of what would happen if they gave that animal/ creature something they like. I think it would be fun to hear about what series of events may ensure afterwards, and it would get their imaginations flowing.

 

Personal Thoughts:

I enjoy this book, I used to read it to the preschool children at the child care center I worked at all the time and the children really enjoyed it as well. In comparison to more recently published books, the illustrations seem a little dated, but overall I think it is a really cute and fun book for children.

This author has some similar books, including If You Give A Mousse A Muffin and If You Give A Pig A Pancake.. Have you read any of these books?

If so, what are some thing you like or dislike about her books?

Reference:

Numeroff, L. J. (1985). If you give a mouse a cookie. New York, NY: Harper.