Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
“Fire! Fire!” said Mrs. McGuire
Illustrator: Vladimir Radunsky
Picture Book
For ages 2 to 5
Harcourt, 2006 ISBN: 978-0152057251
Mrs. McGuire is a mouse and when she sees flames through a keyhole she is convinced that the house she is living in is burning down. Mrs. McGuire raises the alarm yelling out “Fire! Fire!” and soon all her friends and neighbors are in a state of panic. Little mouse yells fill the house as the mice run to and fro not getting much done. One mouse gets a hammer to “break down the door” while another falls down the stairs in a “sack of potatoes.”
It is only when the door is finally opened that all the little mice discover that the flame that they saw through the keyhole was not from an out of control fire – quite the contrary.
Little children will love looking at the comical mice in this simple little rhyming story and being able to peer through the cut out keyhole for themselves is sure to attract their attention. Readers will be left with a very clear impression that is does not pay to raise the alarm if you are not exactly sure that there is something to be alarmed about.
