Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
Illustrator: Don Wood
Board Book
For infants to age 4
Child's Play International, 1998 ISBN: 978-0859536592
Little Mouse is very busy. He has a ladder and he is going into the garden. What is he up to? “Oh I see,” Mouse is going to pick a big ripe strawberry. What a wonderful treat that is going to be.
But, this is a problem. Out there, somewhere, there is a big hungry bear who loves freshly picked ripe strawberries. In not time at all, he will “tromp through the forest on his big, hairy feet” and he will find that strawberry. Mouse can hide the strawberry, lock it up, and disguise it, but the bear will know it is there. What should Mouse do?
Children will love this deliciously funny story. The authors present their tale in a unique way, with an unseen narrator having a conversation with the mouse (though the mouse does not actually say anything). We think that the narrator is trying to be helpful, until we get to the end of the story, when we are able to see that the narrator has an ulterior motive. Bears are not the only ones who like ripe strawberries!
