Read, Read, Read said the Baby: Run home, little mouse by Britta Teckentrup

This review was previously published. It has been rewritten and edited.

The title pretty much covers the story. Little Mouse is lost and scared and no wonder - one each page he encounters another scary animal and is told to hurry, hurry and run home!

The art is typical of Teckentrup's carefully designed shapes, although it's much darker than her usual bright color scheme. After the first few pages, which show the brightly colored trees, the backgrounds are all black with the various animals showing up in shades of grey and brown with glowing eyes. One page will show little mouse looking up to see eyes through a pair of die cut holes, turn the page and you will see the animal chasing the mouse.

The book is oversized for a board book - about 10 inches tall and the pages are thinner than the average board book, about the consistency of shirt cardboard.

Verdict: I thought this was a cute idea, but it felt very dark and scary. Too scary for the audience? My colleague tested it out in storytime and the kids didn't seem to have a problem with it, but with the potential scariness combined with the oversized shape and thinner pages, I don't feel that we really need it.

ISBN: 9781771380331; Published 2013 by Kids Can Press; Borrowed from another library in my consortium