articles

For Kids: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

The Classic Tale by Laura Numeroff

By Review by Eric Cohen July 20, 2010

Like just about all kids, my kids had their favorite books when they were little.  The books I ended up reading again and again.  Of these, my favorite was Laura Numeroff's "If you give a mouse a cookie".  This tale of twisted logic was a guaranteed kid pleaser. And I appreciated the fact that there was a bit of eduction sprinkled in.  Beneath the giggles and wackiness was a lesson about cause and effect and unintended consequences.  Felicia Bond's humerous pictures match the story perfectly with subtle details. What begins as a tiny kind gesture of offering a small mouse a cookie, ends up as a day long chore of more favors and the cleaning up that goes along with giving in to a mouse's every whim.  My son liked to shout out the last words of the sentence of whatever the mouse need next, "Scotch Tape" was his favorite exclaimation.  And my daughter learned the meaning of the expression, "give someone and inch and they'll take a mile". 

If you can believe it, the book is celebrating it's 25th anniversary with a special edition that came out this Spring.  It's a great reason to add it to your childs collection.