Picnic

by Emily Arnold McCully

The sky is bright. The morning is green. What a glorious day for a picnic! So it is that a large and jubilant mouse family pile into their old red truck and go bouncing down a shady country road to the lake. Out comes the big picnic hamper. Out comes the bat and ball and Grandpa's banjo. Out leap nine little mouse children, running through the field flowers to water's edge. But wait a minute! Are there really nine? Somebody seems to be missing. And nobody will be happy until she is found. Emily Arnold McCully's lush summer-drenched watercolors tell a story that needs no words, filling the pages with the giddy joys of a large family picnic and the pluckiness of one small mouse who left it behind.

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

32 pages, Library Binding

First published March 14, 1984

About the author

Emily Arnold McCully received the Caldecott Medal for Mirette on the High Wire. The illustrator of more than 40 books for young readers, she divides her time between Chatham, New York, and New York City.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mouse family heads to the country for a picnic, only to lose one of their young children on the way. As the little mouse finds herself stranded, the family arrives at the picnic ground and gets set up. When they find that Bitty is missing however, they immediately set off to find her, leading to a happy reunion for all...

Originally published in 1984 as a wordless picture-book, Picnic was reprinted in this new 2003 edition, with text added. I don't know if I would feel differently if I hadn't known about the previous wordless version, but I actually found the text here a bit superfluous, and think that Emily Arnold McCully's beautiful watercolor artwork is more than sufficient to carry the story. Leaving that aside, I found this quite an enjoyable little mouse story. I'll have to seek out the two companion volumes - First Snow and School - and see if they are just as charming. Recommended to McCully fans, and to anyone looking for sweet family stories, whether wordless or not.

[Emily Woodard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't like it that Bitty got lost but I liked all the mice.

[Charlene Sain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is a winner of the Caldecott Medal, which is one of the reasons I picked it off the shelf. Its copyright is dated 2003.
The story introduces a whole family of mice climbing in the back of their old pickup to somewhere fun. At first you don't know where exactly they are going or what they are going to do, so that is one of the things that makes the reader want to turn the page. The plot thickens when the pickup hits a big bump, and one of the mice falls out! His brothers and sisters didn't see him fall out, and don't realize he is missing.
I would recommend this book for very young children, ages 2-5. It has a very nice tone of family love and care for one another, and the joy of being found. The illustrations also are lovely and really tell a story in themselves, adding to the words. I imagine a young child would enjoy hearing this story again and again!

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a short and cute read. A family of mice are off to have a picnic on the way the littlest mouse falls out the car. The mice finally get to their favorite spot but all the sudden they realize someone's missing. Finally it's time for the picnic and all of a sudden the adults notice Little bitty isn't there. Everyone begins to search Frank franticly for Bitty because they can't have a picnic without her. Finally they're all reunited and they can proceed with the picnic. The story is cute but it's definitely for a different audience than myself. I could see myself reading this to children, kindergarten to first grade and then been so worried for Bitty. I think children at this age would understand this book more because more often than not they get lost from their parents while in the store.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A large family of mice head off in a pickup (most in the back) for a picnic. No one notices when one gets bounced out.

They arrive at the site and play and have fun and put the food out before they notice she's missing. They look all around and then decide she must have been lost on the way. They go back and find her. By then, another young mouse is missing...

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clearly an older award winner. Illustrations are nice but not jaw-dropping. The plot is overly simplistic. Not a book I would add to my library.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually like wordless books but this one is cute.
8/9/18 Read with Julia.

[Jen]

First published as a wordless book, we read the republished version with text.

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

I speak my mind because I have nothing to lose 🧺🧻

[Literary Strawberry]

Aww, this one is so sad :( Very sweet illustrations, though, and has a happy ending

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 stars

The illustrations are nice and attractive
and appropriate. I thought they were
almost beautiful in a way.

I am somewhat surprised that this picture
book is not better known and more highly
rated.

I enjoyed going through this picture book
more than I had expected. I found the illus-
trations strangely attractive. Almost impressive.
I particularly liked the greens.

Children in general would enjoy this book.

[Theodora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is fun and joyous for children to enjoy. I read it to my grand-daughter and she loved it. This story is about a family of mice who went on a picnic in their red pickup. Little Bitty fell from the back of the truck
on the country road and no realized that she was gone until they got to picnic site. Everyone began looking for her and later found her down the road.This book reminds
me of fun summer days.



Emily McCully is an American Author and Illustrator, born in Galisburg,Illinois. She is credited for dozens of children books and has illustrated over one hundred books for other authors. McCully worked as a free-lance magazine artist. In 1969 she won National Book Award which changed her career. The story" Picnic" won the 1985 Christopher Award. She began drawing at an early age which was 3 years old. She is a self taught artist. She travels and present teacher workshops and art exhibition. She received a Honorary Degree in 2002 from Brown University. She has since written four more
books about the same mouse family.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picnic, by Emily Arnold McCully, illustrates a story of a family of mice going on a picnic for the day. On the way to the picnic Little Bitty falls off the back of the truck and the family doesn’t realize this until the picnic is ready. The mice search all over and get back in the truck to find Bitty on the road.

The cover, along with the back of the book, shows the scene of their picnic. The illustrations in the book start out on the first page with a detailed picture of the mice packing for the picnic they are about to go on. The proceeding page illustrates a colorful yet descriptive picture of their house and the mice loading up for the picnic. When I read through this book I spent time looking at the illustrations before flipping the pages. While reading through this, right away you notice that each page will have detailed illustrations with colors filling up the whole page.

I think that this book would be a great one to read through with children because there aren’t many words throughout the story but enough to tell a sequence of events. This is a cute story to introduce to children because of the very well done illustrations that help tell the story of mice going on a picnic for the day.

[Nancy O'Toole · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCully, Emily Arnold. Picnic. China: Harper Collins. 2003. Print.
Although Picnic was originally presented as a wordless picture book, the story was revitalized in 2003, with the illustrator adding words and larger illustrations. Picnic tells the story of a large extended family of mice that are going on a picnic. On the way, Bitty, one of the children, falls off the truck and is left behind. When the mice realize that Bitty is missing, they pack up their picnic to find the small mouse. Once Bitty is found, everyone enjoys a Picnic. Picnic is illustrated with large water color paintings usually take up each two page spread, with a few smaller illustrations on some pages. McCully has a talent for portraying the expression of the mice using minimal lines and dialogue, as can especially be seen in the instance where Bitty realizes that he is lost. Children who have ever been lost should relate to Bitty's distress when he falls off of the truck, and should be comforted when his family comes back to find him. Although Picnic has moments of sadness, on the whole it is a friendly story about the importance of family.
Recommended for- Preschool
(This book was reviewed for a class)

[Lindsay Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Picnic" written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, winner of the Caldecott Medal, was very kid and reader friendly with beautifully detailed illustrations which fit nicely with the text of the book. This book depicts a young mouse, Bitty, who is going on a picnic with the rest of her mouse family. She becomes lost when they hit a large bump in their truck, and she flies out unbeknownst to the family. When the family finally realizes that she is missing from their group, they set out to search for her. Finally, they find a scared and alone Bitty who is relieved and excited to finally see her family.

This book would be a wonderful read for a beginning reader who is in need of the text features, such as the illustrations in order to follow along, and comprehend the main ideas of the text. This book could also be used for an upper level reader who needed practice using text features and illustrations to decipher the main ideas of the writing. The theme of this story, family and togetherness, are also very relatable to the elementary student, making this an enjoyable read. I would recommend this story to any primary aged student or teacher.

[Julianne Frye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a large family of mice that go out on a beautiful day to have a picnic. Little Bitty falls off the truck on the way to the picnic spot, but nobody notices until the picnic is ready. Bitty is very sad and lonely while she is lost. When the other mice realize that she is missing, the family searches everywhere for Bitty. When they find her, they are finally able to have their picnic together! Since there aren't many words in this book, the pictures tell the majority of the story. The illustrations are very colorful and have a lot of detail. This would be a great book for young children who are learning to read to look at, and it would also be a great story to read aloud to preschoolers.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a highly traumatic book. A mouse family decides to go on a picnic, and on their way to the lake, baby mouse falls out of the back of their pickup truck when it hits a bump. None of her family even notice that she is missing until hours later, and there are many pages of poor baby mouse hugging her little stuffed mouse, crying, and wandering along by the side of the road. Then finally when her family discover she is missing and go looking for her, she almost loses her stuffed toy. Luckily, she runs back and retrieves him, and then they have a picnic.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first wordless book I remember reading. McCully has a series of wordless adventures about this little mouse family that are all delightful. In PICNIC, a large mouse family is driving to have a picnic when the littlest mouse is bounced out of the truck. It is a while before the family notices that she is missing and McCully tells both sides of the story with beautiful watercolor illustrations. The book ends in a happy reunion. A perfect summer story that 30 years later is still relevant and wonderful.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This almost wordless picture book is nicely illustrated and children can use their imaginations to come up with their on story. When a family of mice decided to go on a picnic on a nice sunny day, one mice is missing. The reader knows that the mouse fell out of the car on the way to the picnic. All is well when the mice reconnect. This book would be great to read aloud to students in pre-k or kindergarden. The students will love the illustration and the ending is great.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another wordless mouse book. The one mouse bounces out of the truck on the way and no one notices. They picnic and she very unhappily makes do on her own. When they discover she's gone, they go in search and eventually find her before recommencing the picnic where she fell out of the truck. Odd but enjoyable.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large mouse family loads into their old truck and goes on a picnic. The children have lots of fun playing ball and swimming, and no one notices until it's time to eat that the littlest one is missing. The grandpa thinks back and realizes that she likely got bounced off the back of the truck, so they all set off together to find her. This is a sweet story with a lovely ending.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not like this book. I think that other "picture" books do a better job grabbing the audience. For this being a children's book there was a lot going on and the pictures were very small. I do think that the reader can read aloud to children and elaborate on the pictures.

[S.j.reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

There really wasn't much to this story word-wise. It really is mostly told by the pictures...which are adorable. But my girls are older and like more 'story' to their storybooks. Still, if you are looking for a good, mostly picture book, this is sweet and enjoyable.

[Kristie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Make up your own story for books that don't have any words!

[Edna · Rating 4 out of 5]

No text is needed in this delightfully illustrated book about a very large family of mice who realize they're missing one mouse after the picnic is over.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my son's favorite books! There are no words, so the "reader" has to discern the story based on the beautiful illustrations. Good memories!

[Jodi Santora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for creating dialogue, or just narrative writing in general. This is a pretty specific story, without words. Students pretty much come up with the same words.

[Miri Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

There appear to be two versions of each of McCully's books about the mice: one wordless and one with text. I like the wordless better.

[Kyra Hahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about a mouse who falls off the truck and gets lost on the way to the picnic

[Buxmont Uu]

CMMW 37