Mousetropolis

by R. Gregory Christie

Overview

It’s time for a vacation! This is a fresh take on the Aesop classic fable, The Town Mouse and Country Mouse.

City Mouse visits his cousin in the country- but while he loves to dance in the barn, he experiences spartan meals, unseen predators, unbearable heat and it's too much quiet! City Mouse finds that the country isn’t as restful and pleasant as he’d hoped. And so, the two mice hop a train to the bustling city. While Country Mouse appreciates the plentiful city snacks, it is much too loud, and he’s afraid of cats! Perhaps City Mouse and Country Mouse have different ideas of what makes for a perfect home.


Illustrated by the acclaimed Caldecott Honor illustrator, R. Gregory Christie with a signature sophisticated pallet and painterly style.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823436927
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	07/30/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,100,954
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

R. Gregory Christie has illustrated more than forty books for young people. He received a Caldecott honor for his illustrations for Freedom in Congo Square. He is a two-time Golden Kite recipient, a three-time recipient of The New York Times’ 10 best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year Award, a five-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award in Illustration, a winner of the Boston Globe’s Horn Book Award, and the NAACP Image Award. Mr. Christie Lives in Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

★ "A retelling of Aesop’s ‘The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse’…A wonderful rendering that should be part of every folktale collection."—School Library Journal, starred review

"A welcome addition to any folk-tale collection, this clever retelling and its warm, embracing illustrations demonstrate the enduring appeal of this classic tale."—Kirkus Reviews

"Just when you think there are enough fables to fill every library, a reimagining like this one comes along to enchant young and old alike."—Booklist

9780823436927

From the Publisher

Christie's snappy reimagining of The City Mouse and the Country Mouse gorgeously celebrates both travel and home, with graceful-looking mice whose oversize ears somehow make them seem soulful.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

06/22/2015
Christie (Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood) presents a stripped-down version of Aesop’s “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” that brings the fable into the present day. City Mouse decamps to visit his “country cousin” after a bad night’s sleep in his apartment; readers see the brown mouse clutching two pillows to his ears while music streams from the turntables at a neighbor’s all-night party. The theme of music carries through Christie’s retelling: Country Mouse takes City Mouse to a jug-band jamboree, and when the mice return to the city together, dancers fill a subway platform—until a cat sends the mice scattering. While Aesop’s original favored the quiet, safe country life, Christie’s version is in line with adaptations that recognize the pros and cons of both settings. On the way to and from the jamboree, City Mouse is unnerved by the owls watching them. “This seems dangerous,” he says. “It is,” responds his cousin. “Keep walking.” Vivid acrylic paintings confer a dancer’s grace on the mice, whether they’re traversing a vast field or looking out on a ruddy sea of buildings. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2015-06-06
A 21st-century update to Aesop's enduring fable finds cousins City Mouse and Country Mouse spending time in each other's locale to realize that they both prefer life at home. Flowing acrylic-based gouache illustrations give this retelling a modern twist. Alternating between Mousetropolis and the countryside, the tale opens with City Mouse, who is annoyed with the incessant loud noise of the city. Receiving a letter from his cousin Country Mouse, City Mouse seizes upon the rural vacation opportunity. Although he lets loose at the farmhouse jamboree, City Mouse finds it hard to adjust to the eerily "quiet" surroundings. The food is different, the natural sounds and silences are creepy, and City Mouse can't shake the feeling of being watched. They agree to a new plan. Country Mouse and City Mouse jump a train to the city. There's dancing in the subways, ample food, and phalanxes of device-attached mice doing "important things"—and back home goes Country Mouse. Christie utilizes appealingly mouse-based language—"quicker than a mouse can nibble through a wheel of provolone"—to tell his story, and he carefully acknowledges the dangers of country life as well as those of the city. The illustrations effectively depict the dislocated mice's subjective impressions of each setting; the tilt of an eyebrow communicates emotion. A welcome addition to any folk-tale collection, this clever retelling and its warm, embracing illustrations demonstrate the enduring appeal of this classic tale. (Picture book/folk tale. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews