Description:
Exciting, funny rhymes bring this house alive as the cup speaks, the daisy complains, the dress yells out, and the mice lead the cat on a wild chase from room-to-room, in a merry nighttime romp.
Brief description: Monica Wellington was born in London and lived in Switzerland and Germany as a child. She has written and illustrated many books for young children, including Apple Farmer Annie, Zinnia's Flower Garden, Crepes by Suzette, and Mr. Cookie Baker. She now lives in New York City. Some of her favorites things are: making desserts, eating chocolate, traveling to France, going to museums, and reading a book with her cat. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts.
Review Quotes:
"In a cavalcade of interior scenes and columns of precise rhymes, Wellington finds that the wee hours are not so quiet for scampering nocturnal animals. All night long, mice tear through the house where the only human seen is a sleeping girl. Under whimsical headings such as ``Racing, Chasing in the Kitchen'' and ``Dashing, Splashing in the Bathroom, '' the mice careen through rooms while their shenanigans are related in an extraordinary text, composed entirely of lists of rhyming exclamations by the objects pictured: `' `What a mess, ' said the dress. `They'll clean up, ' said the cup. . . . `Fat chance, ' said the pants.'' Some of the rhymes are wildly funny to read aloud and are sure to become familiar phrases in households that adopt this irresistible book, which ends at dawn and bedtime for the mice. The pictures are composed of bold, clear forms, perfectly executed by an artist whose talent is as sure as her design sense. Layers upon layers of objects, decor, and action remain uncluttered as the mice make a mess of everything. Parodies of masterpieces hang on the walls, while each line of text ends with a spot drawing of the object being quoted. To rave about typefaces and graphically tidy borders would detract from the original and compelling content." Kirkus Review
"As 10 mice and a cat run through a house at night, the objects in each room comment on the chase. Each two-page spread includes a full-page illustration of a room facing a page of rhyming text: "'Move on, ' said the swan," "'Run, ' said the bun." The last word of each line is illustrated with a rebus picture that will encourage young readers to complete the sentence. Done in gouache, watercolors, and colored pencils, the slightly abstract illustrations are filled with geometric shapes, vivid primary colors, and plenty of detail conveying the frenetic activity, such as mice unrolling toilet paper and swinging on a chandelier. Reminiscent of Polly Cameron's I Can't Said the Ant (Putnam, 1961; o.p.), this is a fun read that could also be used in a story-hour setting." School Library Journal