У новій книжці про мишачі пригоди автор та ілюстратор Торбен Кульман разом із невтомними героями-винахідниками досліджує нові, підводні глибини. У пошуках скарбу, що згублений на дні Атлантичного океану, допитливе мишеня Піт і старий професор вирушать у підводну подорож, сповнену захопливих і небезпечних пригод. Що побачать вони на дні океану? Чи відшукають втрачений скарб Пітового родича? Схоже, на них чекають справжні відкриття!
Torben Kuhlmann (1982) is a German communications designer, illustrator and picture book author. He studied Illustration and Communication Design at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences . In 2014 he published his first book, Lindbergh - The adventurous story of a flying mouse, the product of his graduation thesis at the college.
When adventure calls upon you, and should you have a weakness for such things, there is hardly a way of not complying…even if you are a mouse!
“He left this letter behind. He talks about the treasure and his journey to America. This piece of paper has been in our family’s possession for generations. It’s the last sign of life that we have of my ancestor.” -Torben Kuhlman
Written in old-fashioned mouse language, Pete, the little mouse brings a sheet of paper to the professor of the University of Mice. He needs a bit of help in his quest to find more information on this ancestor and what has possibly come of this treasure.
Kindly the professor helps him search for clues in newspaper clippings…and oh no…the transatlantic liner that Pete’s relative was on sank to the bottom of the sea.
But mice are resourceful and it does not take them long at all to locate where this wreck with the treasure might be! Pete tries his hand and building a contraption that would serve as an underwater swimming machine. He experiments with glasses and waits and learns about buoyancy and what it means to be trapped during the experiment! Luckily the professor saves him. Together they embark on visiting a museum on nature study and hit the books to learn from other inventions. With clever ingenuity, they draw up plans for a mouse submarine and get to work in a garage to build the parts and put the contraption together.
And then comes the day they have waited so long for. Disguised in a box of a shipping container, they make the journey across the Atlantic to dive for the sunken ship. How will this adventure turn out? There are dangers lurking all around. From furry to scaly animals and gentle giants…this sure becomes an unforgettable trip and the discovery of secrets…. Could mice have been the real inventors of human ideas?
***
I found out about Torben Kuhlmann through some posts on Twitter. Since the illustrator is from Germany and some years younger than I, I had never heard of him before while living overseas. However, I was immediately smitten with his art and hoped to be able to read one of his books. I was very lucky to discover it on NetGalley.
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous. The colors and hues are soft and the general allure speaks of old fashioned charm. It has historical fiction elements and it came together perfectly. A real treat.
As of late I am really enjoying and appreciating these sort of books. Book illustrations have come such a long way, yet they make you feel like a young kid again.
The elements to discuss are boundless from this book. If you are reading with a child, there are so many themes one could talk about. The crossing of the Atlantic, ship wrecks, library catalogues, inventions…they are all conversation starters and a lovely way to spend time with littles. There are beautiful pictures of famous inventors scattered though out and there is more information for readers at the end of the book.
It is absolutely an amazing picture book. With a mouse as the hero, what cannot be good about that?! The only rival might be an equally stellar book about cats :)
My review will be short and sweet, much like the book, "Edison." Torben Kuhlmann creates adorable little chapter books for children, each of which teaches the reader a little bit about history and science - from a mouse's point of view, of course. In this particular story, Edison is on an adventure to find a secret treasure long hidden by his ancestor. Instead of gold, he discovers a book filled with scientific diagrams. It's a cute story with facts, both scientific and historical, scattered throughout. Children will be delighted by the mouse's adventures but even more so by the magnificent illustrations.
As a few other reviewers have noted, there are no females in this book. While some would say that this book will go far in encouraging young readers to pursue STEM activities, I cannot help but think that once again this points to a male dominated world which contradicts all that STEM stands for. This was such a wasted opportunity to show young girls that science and adventure are not just for boys. As a woman who highly encouraged her own daughter to pursue this area of study, I'm very sad whenever I see lost opportunities such as this one. Perhaps this author will get the message in future books.
I'm reviewing this book for #Netgalley and North South Publishers.
After my enjoyment and appreciation of Armstrong I had high hopes for this one. I was not disappointed.
Edison has an adventurous story combined with glorious artwork sure to delight young readers.
The story begins in a bookstore, where a group of mice gather for the University of Mice.
"Here any inquisitive mouse could learn everything there was to know about the history of mice: mice who had traveled the world, mice who had made great discoveries, and also the achievements of people." Kind of them to throw us in there too, don't ya think?
As the story continues observant readers will pick up clues letting us know that the "elderly, grey-furred, mouse professor whose white whiskers formed a rather messy mustache all around his nose" is the same adventurous mouse we met in "Armstrong", years later.
A young mouse named Pete comes to the professor for help, you see he is looking for the treasure of an ancestor who sailed across the Atlantic and was never heard from again.
Pete and the professor research this ancestor and discover the ship he'd traveled in had sunk in the ocean! Does this deter our treasure hunters? Not even a little bit.
So, they plot, and plan, and experiment, and eventually build a mouse version of a submarine, as well as finding a way to get to the exact spot of the shipwreck.
I don’t want to spoil the story, so I won’t go through more of the plot, but here are some examples of the wonderful artwork:
You'll need to read the book to learn how this all ties in to Thomas Edison, because it does.
The art in this book is absolutely gorgeous. The story is one that would either need to be read by an adult, or for independent readers a bit past typical picture book level.
At the end there is information regarding Thomas Edison, other inventors who are lessor known, and historical facts about the invention of the electric light.
This book is absolutely perfect – wonderful artwork, an interesting, engaging and adventurous story, and factual information at the back regarding the human endeavor to invent the lightbulb.
I received a free, expiring, copy of the book from Netgalley.
Before I commence with my actual review of Torben Kuhlmann's Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure (which has been translated from the author's original German Edison: Das Rätsel des verlorenen Mäuseschatzes by David Henry Wilson and is a 2019 Mildred L. Batchelder Award honouree) I have to admit that I find it rather interesting and also kind of strangely ironic that although mice in particular are often and rightfully so considered as being pests and vermin (and that our Anglo-Saxon noun mouse is even derived from the ancient Sanskrit musha which signifies a thief) there are considerably more positive and often even very much heroic stories of anthropomorphic mice in children's literature than there are tales of human-like mice behaving negatively and despicably (which indeed, considering their nasty reputation as vermin I for one consider this at best a bit weird in and of itself, but perhaps also partially so because I just do not all that much either like or appreciate mice as animals and therefore tend to find in particular mice talking like humans and acting like humans rather annoying and creepy, and yes, even in novels that are clearly meant to be a bit fantastical).
Thus with the above in mind, yes, I did in fact approach Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure with a bit of trepidation and indeed also rather a major lack of personal reading interest. And truth be told, I only considered reading Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure in the first place because the Children's Literature Group is reading the 2019 Mildred L. Batchelder Award books in June and my local library also happened to possess a copy of Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure since I was certainly not interested enough to consider purchasing a copy of Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure, as the thematics of mice attending university, of mice having travelled to the moon and in Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure of mice travelling to the bottom of the ocean to look for some huge and important treasure just did not all that much if at all tickle my reading fancy in any way.
And while I have definitely found author/illustrator Torben Kuhlmann's accompanying pictures for Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure aesthetically awe-inspiring and delightfully, imaginatively detailed (and often full page pictorial spreads at that), and although I can equally see how and that Kuhlmann's (and of course by extension Wilson's) presented verbal text is both engaging and also enlightening and historically, scientifically informative, with my at best only grudging acceptance of mice as characters in children's literature, Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure would have had to have been truly absolutely special for me to have really and fully enjoyed my reading experience, and no, this definitely has not been the case. As while Torben Kuhlmann's aesthetically lovely and lushly detailed illustrations certainly have managed to retain my interest regarding what happens to Pete and the professor and whether they manage to locate their desired treasure, the printed words, the verbal narrative of Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure really does read a bit sub-standardly, draggingly, unscientifically and to and for also bit like a fairy tale with an annoying and frustrating deus ex machina like ending (with Pete and the professor almost immediately in the located ocean shipwreck finding Pete's ancestor's locked sea-chest, which then also and naturally, magically houses the required information that Pete the mouse's ancestor in fact and indeed helped Thomas Alva Edison invent the first light bulbs).
Three stars for Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure, but rounded down to a high two stars, for while I do appreciate that Torben Kuhlmann has included supplemental historic and scientific information on both the invention of electric light and on Thomas Alva Edison at the back of Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure, he really should have, he really needed to also list his academic sources and suggestions for further reading and study regarding both Thomas Edison and the invention of electric light. And yes, while as a German and even hailing from the same home town as Heinrich Göbel (from Springe), I am thrilled that Torben Kuhlmann points him out in Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure, considering that Heinrich Göbel's claims that he was in fact the real inventor of the electric lightbulb and not Thomas Alva Edison have always been at best rather controversial, a source list of where Torben Kuhlmann has found his information on Göbel is in my opinion absolutely necessary here. For in my academic opinion, it now just seems as though the blurb in Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure on Heinrich Göbel just exists to perhaps even discredit Thomas Edison, which is unfortunate, as I did in fact do a bit of supplemental research on Heinrich Göbel, and for one, he never actually claimed that he invented the electric lightbulb and for two, after he immigrated to the USA, Heinrich Göbel considered himself an American and would probably have been rather aghast at as well as furious how his name has been used over the decades by some (including the Nazis) in Germany to make him appear not only as the true inventor of the electric lightbulb but also as someone who supposedly was shafted and cheated by Thomas Alva Edison, how he has been portrayed as some unfortunate German victim of American arrogance.
“According to the professor, nothing was impossible for a mouse.”
What would have happened if Twenty thousand leagues under the sea was written by a mouse? Well, it would have done a great job anyway.
This book feels like Verne’s masterpiece to me. It brings me back to my childhood, when my favorite books had a mouse in the cover and I loved reading about Treasures and pirates and adventures. I loved every single page of this artistic book.
The first scene is wonderful, the dream of every reader: a bookshop full of books and paper and ink. There’s something else: a mouse. In this place there is an hidden jem, a university of mouses. Oh, yes. It was so cute.
Our protagonist, Pete, is a little mouse who lost his ancestor during a ship travel. He knows that his ancestor had a treasure with him and so he decides to ask for help to the university professor. They start this journey through the history of science and the seas. But They need to find the ship relic before.
I can think of this book as a introduction about science to young people: the two mouses use the scientific method (try and try and try again) to understand how to go underwater while breathing. They create a Strange “Nautilus” (sorry Verne, I’m stealing your words) and what can be considered a mouse-submarine.
The journey is phenomenal, the arts are wonderful. I recommend this book to everyone who has children, nephews, little friends, siblings, everyone. Even if you are older you would enjoy this beautiful book. Totally recommend it. Little me would have loved this little masterpiece, it would have become one of my favorites for sure. Well, I loved it anyway.
*i received an arc of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review *
What a truly outstanding children's book. The graphics are seriously out of this world amazing!
A young mouse is trying to find a hidden treasure with the help of a professor from the mouse university!
The journey to finding the treasure requires lots of 'engineering' and scientific explanations that will certainly spark a child's curiosity. It's also a valuable lesson in history.
Definitely 5 stars! And yes, I'm reviewing books that I'm giving to kids in my family as Christmas presents, LOL. Not quite my usual genre :-)
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
Imagine my delight when I found out that this author/illustrator made more books featuring mice. I already read Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse 2 years prior, loved that one to bits. I was very much excited to start this one. Featuring a new mouse, new adventures, new friendship, new mysteries, new inventions.
This time the adventure is about a little mouse who wants to know more about his ancestor who went to America. He gets help from an old professor. At first the old mouse doesn’t want to help him, but then he does as he sees that our little mouse isn’t giving up. I loved seeing them research, build, invent, craft, and plan. These two are tiny but they have big dreams, big plans, and nothing is going to stop them.
We see them try out diving bubbles, making something that would do the same but also allows for resurfacing again, then try out something else again, and then the journey really starts. I was curious what the treasure would be, what could be in that chest that is so important? Gold? Very old cheese? Something else?
The ending was sweet and beautiful, and it does explain why our tiny little mouse has such a talent for inventing.
Just a shame that the title (and cover) kind of spoils the ending of the book.
The art is just the best part. Yes, the story is wonderful, but it is the art that captures me.
I definitely need more books like this, I love mice. Even had them when I was teen, and not one or two, but a whole bunch. So adorable!
All in all, if you are looking for a gorgeous, fun, adventurous book featuring brave mice, read this one! And be sure to check out the others as well.
I just finished reading this to my sons. I wasn't sure if it would be of interest to them, but once my oldest (six years old) saw the illustrations he was hooked. The bio of Kuhlmann at the back made me smile as the description of his drafting interests in kindergarten reminds me so much of my son and I guess there must have been a bit of a "kindred spirit" thing going on there as my son loved all the intricate details of the illustrations. I really do think they are marvelous, both the illustrations of the mice, sea creatures etc. and then the drafting work.
I personally found the narrative was a bit on the bland side. I wondered if it was the translation? The adventure just didn't seem to have as much excitement and vitality it could have had and some of the transitions felt choppy. That said, it was still engaging and my six-year-old was very interested (though the three-year-old's attention wandered) and I did appreciate all the elements about building and inventing, science and exploration. The historical element with Edision definitely seemed tacked on -- there was more in the notes at the end than in the actual story.
So, while not a personal favorite for me, I see it's merits and appreciate it for what it did for my oldest son as it's sparked his imagination and creativity and he's now designing submarines ;-) I'll probably seek out the author's other works, too.
When an eager young mouse named Pete approaches the learned old professor who teaches science at the University of Mice, sharing an incredible tale of his ancestor's trans-Atlantic voyage and of his lost treasure, the old gentleman at first doesn't wish to get involved. But he soon realizes that, like himself at that age, Pete is a born inventor and adventurer, and won't give up in his efforts to get to the bottom of the ocean and retrieve the treasure. Soon the pair are making plans, and diving into the depths. But will the treasure be what they expected...?
Originally published in German as Edison: Das Rätsel des verschollenen Mäuseschatzes, this delightful tale of murine adventure and can-do is the fourth picture-book I have read from talented author/illustrator Torben Kuhlmann. Every bit as enjoyable as its predecessors, it pairs an engaging adventure story with gorgeous artwork. Kuhlmann's narrative once again shows a mouse leading the way (with humans coming in second), while his illustrations are simply beautiful, with a luminous quality that grabs the eye. I was pleased to see that the professor here is actually from Armstrong: The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon. That was a nice touch! I was also pleased with the afterword, which gives a history of scientific endeavor, when it comes to electric lighting. I appreciated that Kuhlmann showed the many inventors who came before Edison. Recommended to young readers who enjoy animals fiction, and to anyone who (like me) enjoys Kuhlmann's artwork.
Natürlich musste ich auch das neue Buch von Torben Kuhlmann lesen. Seine Illustrationen sind einfach wunderschön und die Geschichte einer kleinen Maus, die bei einer der größten Erfindungen der Menschheit eine wichtige Rolle spielte, wie immer total süß.
What a spectacularly gorgeous book! The drawings are perfect and absorbingly detailed. The story is long and interesting. You must pay attention to the pages without text, because they continue to tell the story.
Here we have the story of a youthful mouse and a professor who are trying to figure out what happened to the young mouse’s ancestor who was an inventor and had sailed to America with a large treasure that was lost at sea. They do research, experiments, designing engineering and building to help them go after the treasure at the bottom of the sea. All without humans taking notice, of course!
This book is informative, fun and beautiful. The book is quite large and the paper is incredibly thick. The drawings are done in pen/pencil and water colors and are colorful but a little muted, which gives them a bit of an old-timey feel.
La beauté des illustrations 🥺♥️ un très joli album sur fond de chasse au trésor et science, une pépite ! Je vais sûrement prendre les autres albums de la série 😊
In this third and newest mouse adventure, the mice have not only settled in America but have organised their society, culminating in there even being a university for little mice. At this university, the professor we met in the previous book teaches. One day, he is visited by a young mouse telling him of a family heirloom: a treasure map leading to a sunken treasure at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. But how to get there?
Well, as the professor mouse explains, mice have learned how to build and fly planes, they have gone to the Moon - so why not also to the bottom of the ocean?!
Thus, they both start making plans and building different kinds of diving devices. Naturally, there are dangers threatening their success but our two intrepid inventors never give up, thus succeeding in building a submarine that takes them to their treasure.
As you can see above, the colour palette is slightly different, thanks to the underwater theme. However, the author once again shows his talent for bringing his story to life with attention to detail and the right enthusiasm for adventures and inventions.
Just like in the first two books, there is interesting information at the back about human pioneers in the field of electricity (enabling the mice to explore the underwater world), which was a very nice addition. I'll certainly be reading the next book as soon as it comes out.
Nuori hiiri nimeltä Pete on löytänyt vanhan aarrekartan, joka on kuulunut hänen esi-isälleen. Nyt vaikuttaisi siltä, että aarre on vajonnut keskelle Atlanttin pohjaa, ja sieltähän se on nostettava keinolla millä hyvänsä. Onneksi sankarimme ei tarvitse ryhtyä operaatioon yksin, vaan hän saa apua piippua tupruttelevalta hiiriyliopiston professorilta.
Tarina etenee kiinnostavasti sekä tekstin että kuvien välityksellä, vähän Hugo Cabret -romaanin tapaan.
Sopivan jännittävää tarinaa voisi vinkata kakkos-kolmosluokkalaisille, ja voisi se pienemmillekin sopia vaikka iltasatukirjaksi. Kuvia on ainakin kiva ihastella yhdessä.
Прекрасна дитяча книжка. Захоплива історія про пригоди двох мишей з невеликою кількістю тексту та величезними красивезними ілюстраціями. Справжній витвір мистецтва. Чекатиму коли моя дитина нарешті нею зацікавиться та читатемо разом.
Voi että, rakastuin tähän kirjaan. ❤️ Ihana tarina ja mielettömän hienot kuvitukset. Tässä lasten kuvakirjassa kaksi hiirtä, professori ja pieni hiiri nimeltään Pete, päättävät lähteä tutkimusmatkalle kohti Atlantin valtameren pohjaa, jonne on taannoin uponnut aarre Peten esi-isältä. Seikkailullisen kertomuksen ohella kirjassa on paljon tieteellisiä ja historiallisia faktoja, joita lapsi voi oppia ja joista voi kehittyä mielenkiintoisia keskusteluja. Lyhyehköissä luvuissa vilahtelee muun muassa erilaisia keksintöjä ja historiallisia henkilöitä. Hiirihahmot ovat sympaattisia, täynnä päättäväisyyttä ja kekseliäisyyttä, ja he kannustavat ystävyyteen ja auttamiseen. Ja vielä kerran, kirjan kuvitus! Se oli niin lumoavaa, että välillä täytyi vain pysähtyä ihastelemaan. Paljon yksityiskohtia, hienot värit ja söpöjä hiiriä! Vaikkei minulla olekaan lapsia joille tätä lukea, taidan silti ostaa omaan hyllyyn.
No. Pretty pictures and good intentions are not enough to make a good book. Too much bad science, way too much suspension of disbelief, too many points just plain wrong.* And boring. And Edison was kind of a jerk, too; I'm not sure he's the one who should be highlighted in this book... and after all, the main invention was a submarine, which was not invented by Edison. I'd rather read a book honoring Tesla myself.
*No mention of the bends. Moby Dick is a slim volume in the store. Mice can melt steel in a mini crucible - where'd they get it? First dive in the middle of the Atlantic takes them right to the sunken ship. Etc.
Dieses Buch ist einfach wunderschön illustriert und sowohl für Jung, als auch für (und vielleicht sogar noch ein wenig mehr) Alt ❤️ Die Bilder sind Kunstwerke für sich und haben einen ganz eigenen Charme. Die Farbgebung der Bilder und die „rustikalere“ Aufmachung des Buches sind etwas ganz besonderes und wirken dadurch überhaupt nicht typisch „kindlich“. Wenn man sich einzelne Bilder in der Wohnung aufhängen würde, würde niemand darauf kommen, dass es sich dabei um Zeichnungen für eine jüngere Zielgruppe handeln würde. Die Geschichte ist auch sehr interessant und ich mag die Thematik der Erfindungen und Forscher, welche hier auf jeder Seite zu finden ist. Auf jeden Fall werde ich noch die anderen Bücher des Autors lesen!
Poikkeuksellisen komea kuvitus tässä kirjassa! Hiirulaisten seikkailua ihmiselämän rinnalla on hauska seurata ja samalla kirja opettaa jotain ihmis(hiiri?)kunnan teknisestä kehityksestä.
Ik kan een heel lange tekst schrijven over dit informatieve prentenboek, maar ik kan het ook kort houden.
Prachtig.
Sfeervolle en gedetailleerde prenten die echt onderdeel zijn van het verhaal. Zonder de prenten is het verhaal niet compleet. Alles klopt aan dit boek, de dikkere pagina’s, de illustraties, de tekst en het lettertype, de informatie achterin het boek. Heel mooi.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.
I really liked all of the illustrations for Edison, but some of the wording was weird. I was under the impression that this was a children's book, so saying things like "When I was young, I also went off on crazy adventures, risking life and limb like an idiot" seemed inappropriate. It wouldn't have taken much to phrase that a little differently.
This is another book that didn't flow well. It was almost like reading an old telegram. Words words words STOP words words STOP words... I felt like I kept having to stop and start again within the story. Some of their mousey comments didn't make sense either.
I liked the idea of mice being just as intelligent and independent as people. It made me think of the movie The Borrowers, but with rodents. They have homes, schools, can weld and invent -- one even went to the moon. It was an interesting story about using your brain to come up with a scientific solution to a problem. Trial and error, drawing out plans, researching, hypothesizing -- all of this was a great way to incorporate science into a children's story.
Wonderful book, although I wish it had been presented and worded just a tad differently.
Zwei anthropomorphe Mäuse gehen auf eine abenteuerliche Reise um das Geheimnis eines Vorfahren aufzudecken. Hierzu müssen sie ein Unterseeboot bauen und einige dafür relevante Naturphänomene erforschen. Die Bilder von Torben Kuhlmann sind wirklich klasse, der Text ist zwar informativ, aber die zeitlichen Löcher in der Geschichte haben den Erzählfluss doch so etwas gestört. Das ist schade, denn ansonsten ist das Buch wirklich toll und mein vier Jahre alter Sohn hat das Vorlesen auch sehr genossen.
Metsolat Kohtalon tie kirjan ja Aattelu Rulettaa kirjan jälkeen luin kirjan nimeltä Edison Kadonneen hiiriaarteen arvoitus. Lukiessani kirjaa nimeltä Edison Kadonneen hiiriaarteen arvoitus minulle tuli todella erittäin hyvä mieli. Kirjassa Edison Kadonneen hiiriaarteen arvoitus on hyvä ja kaunis kuvitus. Teksti oli hyvää sekä isoa. 😍❤😍❤😍❤😍❤😍❤😍❤😍❤😍❤