Chalk & Cheese

by Tim Warnes

From the illustrator of Rise and Shine and Jesus Loves Me comes the tale of a limitless friendship between a New York City dog and an English country mouse.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship

32 pages, ebook

First published October 21, 2008

About the author

Storyteller Tim Warnes' first book was published in 1995. A writer and illustrator, he now has more than 80 original titles to his name.

Tim's weekly blog, My Life in Books - www.timwarnes.com - is for lovers of kid lit. Part memoir; part commentary; part review by an industry insider. It is intended to give readers confidence and encouragement to share their passion for literacy - creating connections through kids’ books with their loved ones, and inspire a new generation to value reading for pleasure.

Tim's married to illustrator Jane Chapman. He loves comic strips, wearing fancy hats, playing his banjo and of course - reading bedtime stories!

See more of Tim's work at www.chapmanandwarnes.com

Reviews

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the story, not sure how I feel about the layout.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit long for a kids' book and the friends only seem to have conflict, no resolution.

[Stacia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Lackluster but it tried.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to explain the significance of their names, but it was a cute story.

[Ashley Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

My class loves this story! King Kong!! 🤣 they were giggling sooo much

[Lauren Kramer-Theuerkauf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chalk & Cheese by Tim Warnes is the charming tale of a very unlikely pair of friends. Chalk is a dog that lives in New York City and his best friend is a mouse named Cheese who lives in England. While they appear to have nothing in common, there is one thing that binds them together: their friendship.

Cheese has been sending postcards to Chalk asking all kinds of questions about New York. Does a skyscraper really scrape the sky? Where does Stuart Little live? Can tractors be spotted driving down the crowded streets?

Instead of merely telling Cheese about the Big Apple, Chalk invites him to come over for a visit. Cheese is thrilled at the idea of getting to spend some quality time with his best friend. At first, he is a bit overwhelmed by all of the sights, sounds...and smells. But, Chalk stands by him through it all and gently guides Cheese on the journey of a lifetime.

I very much enjoyed reading this story. The book layout is very similar to a comic book, which I thought worked very well for the story. However, I did find some of the page transitions to be a bit confusing since so much was happening on the page.

The illustrations are simple, but effective. Children will fall in love with loyal Chalk and curious Cheese. I believe that children ages 3-7 will truly treasure this book and its message about the true meaning of friendship.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo loved this book! I have been to New York so I understood some of what Cheese was going through! I giggled and laughed at some of what Cheese was saying and how Chalk responded so calm and cool. The pet cockroach was hilarious!

Loved the soft pictures with some graphic novel/comic elements and I know my Third Graders would love this! It is a good introduction to adding comics/graphic novels into the class.

I would use this for a compare/contrast lesson for the characters as well as for character lesson.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chalk and Cheese are penpals. When Cheese comes to visit Chalk in New York, they go together like-you guessed it-Chalk and Cheese (apparently this is an Australian/English thing--meaning opposite). Cheese is hysterical in this funny, rolling in the aisle book--I especially like when he starts trying to make light saber noises (keep in mind, Cheese is a mouse). Very fun letter writing component as well (think Meerkat Mail, except, thankfully, without the flaps).

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son's favorite book of all-time (okay, so he's only 3). This is the charming story of two best friends who couldn't be more different, but love each other just the same. Cheese is an English country mouse from a small town and Chalk is lives in New York City. After a postcard correspondence (shown inside the cover page of the book), Cheese decides to come for a visit. They visit many NY landmarks and through their visits show how different and similar they are at the same time.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today's library choice for before-naptime reading, this is a cute story about an English country mouse (Cheese) who goes to visit his best friend, Chalk, a dog who lives in New York City. There is a narrative text, along with lots of comic-book like conversation in the pictures (and you need this for the story!), so it's a little unwieldy as a read-aloud. At the same time, the dialog is what N. loved and what made both of us giggle. Not a life-changer (for me), but a nice book.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the story was fun and would work well through the third grade. I am not sure about the layout of the book, sometimes it was difficult to follow. it does a good job of showing how two people or things may seem so different at first, but really can have a lot in common. I really enjoyed the beginning when Chalk and Cheese were mailing postcards back and forth.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book to talk about how different friends get along. The two characters are not your ideal pair of friends and they end up getting along. They talk about how different they are between each other and how they get along with each other. It's a great book to share with the children.

[Sandybear76]

I had to stop and read this one today. A few kids had asked for this one while it was checked out. A good book about friendship. A dog living in New York City is friends with a mouse from England. The dog was showing the sights to the very excited mouse and they were having a grand adventure.

[christine. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorably wonderful.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

very charming trans-atlantic variation of city mouse/country mouse....

[Aerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A London mouse in New York City, laid out in a graphic-novel-like format.

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very busy book. Too busy, actually.

[Julianna Royer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too cute! I adored the illustrations. :)

[Maika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original title and good story.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story of an unlikely friendship between a dog and a lively mouse. Not a bad book but honestly, nothing exceptional either.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My two year old is destined to read comics. He already reads from this book...and quotes it. Daddy reads it better than me because he can do voices!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best friends don't have to agree on everything.

[Laura Filtness · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a cute book to compare to "Peanut Butter and Cupcake" and other books about accepting differences!

[Sherrie Hardin]

This is so cute. If you need to teach appreciation of differences, this is a great book.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious.