Where's Mommy?

Mary and the Mouse #2

by Beverly Donofrio, Barbara McClintock (Illustrations)

In this companion to acclaimed Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary, Maria (Mary's daughter) and Mouse Mouse (Mouse's daughter) are looking for their mothers. They're not in their bedrooms, their car and cart are still in the driveway, and they are not in the gazebo or under the mushroom! Where could they be? Well, turns out Mary and the Mouse are great friends—just like Maria and Mouse Mouse—and soon the new generation is in on the old generation's secret, and vice versa. Sparingly told and beautifully illustrated, this book is every bit as charming as its predecessor. Kids will pore over the minute details of a mouse's parallel world.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Animals, Family, Fiction, Storytime

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2014

About the author

Beverly Donofrio is an author most noted for writing Riding in Cars with Boys, an autobiographical account of her life. The book was made into a movie with the same title and starred Drew Barrymore as Donofrio.

Her second memoir, Looking for Mary, or the Blessed Mother and Me, is about the Virgin Mary, faith and her own life as a mother.

Donofrio's father is of Sicilian descent and her mother is an Italian-American. Donofrio lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she is a founder of San Miguel Workshops. Her first children's book was released in 2007 by Random House.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sequel to Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary. If you enjoy stories like "The Borrowers" or "Thumbelina" I think you will enjoy these picture books. The prose is perhaps a bit lackluster but the story is such a cute idea and the illustrations are so winsome. I love the Mouse family's home and it's fun to see the parallels between the rooms in the human family's house and those of the mouse's house. Lots of charming details to pore over here.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this delightful sequel to their Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary , a picture-book in which a little girl and a little mouse become secret friends, author Beverly Donofrio and illustrator Barbara McClintock one again spin a magical dual-narrative tale. Here we have Maria and Mouse Mouse, the offspring of the original Mary and Mouse, who (like their mothers) are secret friends. When both children want their mothers at bedtime, only to find them missing, they go in search of their wayward parents, discovering in the process that the elder generation too had a cross-species friendship...

Like its predecessor, Where's Mommy? is an immensely engaging picture-book, one which pairs an appealing story of a girl-mouse duo with beautiful artwork. Children who enjoy stories about worlds in miniature - think The Borrowers and its sequels, or the Brambly Hedge books - will appreciate the side-by-side depiction of Maria's human home and Mouse Mouse's tiny murine one. As always, I absolutely loved Barbara McClintock's illustrations, which managed to be both cute and beautiful at the same time. The scene in which the father mouse tweaked Mouse Mouse's nose was just adorable, while the one in which the daughters discover their mothers together was likewise well done. Recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary , as well as to those looking for picture-books featuring mice, cross-species friendship and/or dual narratives.

[Jack & Lily Wills · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE the illustrations in this book!

[Donalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for side-by-side reading and sharing. Take turns reading Maria and Mouse Mouse's parts and linger over the detailed illustrations.

[Holly Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved stories about miniature things - The Borrowers, The Littles, etc. I love all the little things they gather around the big humans' house and use for their furniture, dishes, tools, etc. And so I enjoyed this story of Maria and her friend, Mouse Mouse. I love the beautiful, intricate illustrations of Mouse Mouse's wonderful house - the bottle cap chairs, Father's workshop, the matchbox bed, and button wall hangings. Maria's Frank Lloyd Wright-ish home is pretty spectacular, too! Maria and Mouse Mouse's secret is that their parents don't know they're friends. They think if they tell, Maria's family would get a cat and Mouse Mouse's family would flee. However, one day, when neither can find her own mother, they find out their mothers have been keeping a secret of their own!

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this to remember how much my son liked it last year. I want to keep a record of his favorite picture books. It's a sweet little story about a little girl who becomes friends with a mouse - turns out her mom and the mouse's mom are friends too! Nice illustrations.

[Elizabeth K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine addition to books about small mice living in houses with tiny, repurposed furniture.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to live in this house very much.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great continuation of the previous book. Be careful, kids, not to think you actually know everything about your parents. You may just be surprised to find that they were once kids just like you and really DO get it. I may have enjoyed this one even more than the previous installment, but that's partially because I saw what was coming and enjoyed the discovery process.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria and Mouse Mouse are both ready for bed. Both children call for their mothers, neither of which are anywhere to be found. After much searching both mothers are located and bedtime stories are shared.

Sweet story and McClintock's illustrations are as great as ever. She really has an old world style touch to her artwork.

[Uri Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story with great illustrations. But it's really a continuation of the first book, Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary. So try to read them together.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story. Maria and Mouse are friends. They don't tell their parents because they don't think they would approve. But one night, mom is missing. Both moms. They search everywhere, and when they find them...it turns out they are friends too. So everyone is happy.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who drinks coffee right before bed? And is meese really the word for a baby mouse? I was left with more questions than answers. But this book was all right. I enjoyed the scene with the sister mouse playing with gummy bears.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute parallel story of a little girl and the mouse that lives in her house who is also her friend.

[Kathryn Spieldenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for teaching parallels

[Abbigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! The details in the illustrations were so mesmerizing and beautiful. A great book for fans intrigued by The Borrowers.

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet story

[Rosa]

5

[Cristina Quattrone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a charming story, and obsessed with the illustrations

[Kelsie Schlipf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was so adorable and I loved the full circle moment at the end.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so pleased to see a follow-up story to Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary! This new book focuses on the daughters of Mary and Mouse. Maria is a little girl who has a mouse for a best friend named Mouse Mouse. The two of them never reveal to anyone else that they know one another because otherwise the mice would either be driven off or have to move. The two girls live parallel lives, getting ready for bed in the same way and both calling for their mothers at the same time. But both mothers are nowhere to be found! The search is on by both girl and mouse to figure out where their mothers have gone. They both look all over their homes, check with their fathers, and ask their siblings. Nothing. Then they notice a light on in the shed and both head directly for it. And if you read the first book, you will know exactly who they will find in the shed.

Donofrio has written a clever parallel story that reveals the lives of two friends. The upstairs downstairs aspect of the book has incredible appeal as does the wee details of mouse life. There are little touches throughout the book that make the text charming and lovely. Her pacing is also adept and keeps the entire book moving along and yet completely appropriate for bedtime reading.

So much charm and style comes from the illustrations. I particularly enjoy looking closely at the world of the mice created from borrowed items from the human home. These little touches truly create a world under the floor that any reader would love to discover or live in themselves. The illustrations are rich with color and details, worthy of lingering over when you aren’t quite ready for lights out.

Beautifully written and lovingly illustrated, this book is a suitable companion to the first. They both stand alone fully on their own, but I’d think that anyone finding out there was another in the series would want to read them both, probably back to back. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

[Joella · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl and a mouse live in the same house. But they can’t “tell anyone about each other.” If the little girl’s family knew about the mice the humans would “get a cat.” If the mice knew their daughter was friends with a human, “they’d flee to a hole in the ground.” So both girls (human and mouse) live separate but similar lives. The illustrations especially showcase just how similar life is on a typical day when the families are winding down and getting ready for bed. The illustrations on top showcase the human family while the illustrations below show just how the mouse family’s activities are almost a mirror of the activities above. Of course things get tricky when each girl cannot get settled into bed without the help of their mothers. Both human and mouse go looking for the said parents when they discover that each mother has a secret as well…they aren’t the only ones with a friend of a different species. There are rich details illustrated into this fun story. Children will enjoy looking and comparing each version of the girls going to bed before the readers go to bed themselves.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many times, I pick up picture books with a mission--I need them for a story time (theme), I've heard about them through the grapevine (starred reviews, here on GR, friends), or I need to review them for Redeemed Reader. This little gem, though, I just picked up on a whim off a "new" shelf at my local library. And it's just delightful. Young children will especially enjoy it, even if they (like me) have no prior acquaintance with Maria or her friend Mouse Mouse. All young children know the panic of calling out for mom (or another caregiver) and worrying when she (or he) doesn't instantly appear. And oh, the charming ending when the friends discover their mothers. Text and illustrations tell the parallel story of Maria and Mouse Mouse going through the same experience until they unite in the end. McClintock's detailed illustrations provide much to pore over each time the book is read.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria has a mouse for a friend, and Mouse Mouse has a human for a friend. They believe they must keep this a secret because their families would react terribly. One night when both of them went to bed at the same time, doing the same routine, they called for their mothers to read them a bedtime story. Their mothers don't come. They look all throughout (their part) of the house and cannot find their mothers. They go out to the shed and run into each other before getting there. They open the door together and find their mothers having a wonderful chat!

I stopped to look at every single page of this book--the illustrations are so detailed and almost tell another story on their own.

Great for preschool storytimes.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maria and Mouse Mouse think they know their mothers well. But. It turns out that their mothers both have secrets from their daughters. BIG secrets. Maria and Mouse Mouse get suspicious one night. Both Maria and Mouse Mouse realize that their moms are completely missing. No one else cares. No one else worries. But Maria and Mouse Mouse, well, they HAVE to find out where their moms are NOW! So they go searching everywhere.



Where's Mommy is either a sequel or companion to Mary and the Mouse and The Mouse and Mary. I have not read the first book. But I'm guessing that this is a book about Mary's daughter.

[Julee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria is ready for a bedtime story but can't find her mother. Mouse Mouse is ready for her bedtime story and can't find her mother either. "Where's Mommy?" After an extensive search Maria and Mouse Mouse are both surprised where they find their mommies. This a very sweet, dual perspective story. The reader experiences Maria's search for her mother from the human's perspective and we also experience Mouse Mouse's behind the walls mouse's perspective. I love the part when Mouse Mouse couldn't ask her baby brother because he was just a "meese". Loved it and will read it as part of a Mother's Day lesson.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

When secret and unlikely friends Maria and Mouse Mouse both discover their mothers aren't there to tuck them in, they set off on a parallel search to find them. Readers will explore upstairs with Maria and downstairs with Mouse Mouse until their independent searches bring the two friends together for a climactic surprise! The downstairs world of Mouse Mouse in comparison to Maria's life upstairs will enchant young readers and amuse adults, while the deceptively simple story imparts a lesson about friendship between two very different girls.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story with illustrations that just beg to be looked at again and again. Also, I love Maria's modern-but-cozy house and wouldn't mind moving in. Fabulous detail, often with pages split horizontally to show both Maria and Mouse Mouse's worlds. They often mirror each other, and it's fun to spot the similarities and differences (a classic painting reproduced in Maria's house, a picture from a Beatrix Potter book in Mouse Mouse's).

(Illustrations rendered in pen-and-ink, watercolor and gouache.)

[Emilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria and Mouse Mouse are secret friends. One is a human and the other a mouse. No one must know that they are friends their parents would never approve. One night they get ready for bed and call for their mom. Neither mouse nor Maria can find her. They end up on a search around the house to find our where their mommy is. The illustration are absolutely darling. It illustrates two different houses the mouse and Maria’s house on the same page. Incredibly clever writing and pictures. I loved this story.

[Kifflie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria and Mouse Mouse are secret friends who live in the same house, but they keep each other a secret from their families because they fear the consequences.

One night each girl gets ready for bed, and calls for her mother to tuck her in, but their mothers are nowhere to be found. So they both begin searching. The ending is predictable, but it really is so sweet.

Barbara McClintock's illustrations make each home look very comfortable to live in and each family very friendly to live with.