Looking for Winston

The Adventures of Sophie Mouse #4

by Poppy Green, Jennifer A. Bell (Illustrator)

Sophie Mouse's little brother goes missing in the fourth book of The Adventures of Sophie Mouse.

Sophie's brother Winston really wants to help Sophie and her friends build a fort at Butterfly Brook. But Sophie doesn't want her six-year-old brother hanging around, and she tells him he's too little to join. Soon after Winston leaves, Sophie realizes that they could use his help after all. So she returns to tell Winston he's welcome to come along -- but Winston is nowhere to be found! Will Sophie find her little brother?

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Animals, Middle Grade, Fiction, Friendship, Family

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

Poppy Green can talk to animals! Unfortunately, they never talk back to her. So she started writing in order to imagine what they might say and do when humans aren’t watching. Poppy lives on the edge of the woods in Connecticut, where her backyard is often a playground for all kinds of wildlife: birds, rabbits, squirrels, voles, skunks, deer, and the occasional wild turkey.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My children love the Sophie Mouse series and I am a fan of most of the books, too. This one missed the mark a bit for me given the issues with the little brother wandering off and not listening (this review by Angie explains more: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). I think the ultimate lesson here is that we should love our siblings and that everyone has ways to contribute no matter how small they might be. So, I appreciate that. But, yeah, I would have preferred a little different route to get to that message.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I read my way through the Sophie Mouse series, I am confident that I won't keep these around for later reading when my littles are ready for first chapter books. The subtle themes that are found are not ones that I want my children to absorb. This time, little brother Winston disobeys his sister when he follows her to join with her friends in building a fort. When she realizes that he has followed her, Sophie tells him to return home. Instead, he says he's going home, but disobeys again and instead finds a secluded spot in the same area to build his own fort. But hey! It all turns out okay because instead of not being old enough, as Sophie thought, he can actually build a better fort than they can, so instead of letting him join them, he allows them to join him. My 5-year-olds eat these stories up, but, again, they won't be staying in this house to be read again. There are much better early chapter books out there.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a cute book about the sibling bond. Sophie's little brother, Winston, wants to follow her and help her build a fort. She says no and pushes him off and he gets lost. She panics and realizes she needs him and loves him.

[Brooke Delahunty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m on a mission to find any and every book for my daughters that are NOT Junie B Jones. This Sophie Mouse series I recommend 10/10! The books are so so cute! Really great writing for an early reader starting chapter books!

[Katherine Pendleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

" I liked it because Winston was cute and kind. Amen"

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun installment! Loved seeing more of the brother/sister dynamic between Sophie and Winston. And the creativity of building forts in the woods! I continue to love the level of detail the author includes in the stories—enough to spark creativity but not enough to get in the weeds.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

These parents never seem to know where their kids are. They just wonder out into the forest and get into adventures that wouldn’t be possible for kids today. But it’s adorable so I forgive these little critters.

[Alison (readinginazaleawoods) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quick and delightful read reminded us of the importance of loving others well—especially younger siblings. 💛 It also opened the door to some age-appropriate conversations about staying safe, not wandering off, and looking out for one another.

[Jenny Hartfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 6yo: 5, 10 , 15, 20, 25 ... 100 stars! Only I wish it could go more!
I loved it! Even though it didn't go good at the beginning, it teached us a lesson. It teached us a lesson that even if you have a sister or brother or friend that's littler than you, you should let them join you in your plans if they ask you. Cause they'll feel sad if you say no. It doesn't matter what age you are, but what you do and say. Sometimes your age can matter, but in this conversation it didn't. You need to be a good friend.

Mom: Once again, Sophie Mouse deals with the real life struggles of childhood ... Being 8 and wanting to hang out with your friends... and having your 6yo brother want to tag along. Her initial response isn't so great (not "mean," but not including him either.) She wrestles with her response, but tries to justify it. She continues to feel badly about it and that changes only when she makes the decision to include him. I like how the story flips around to show that the excuses Sophie gave to herself to justify leaving out her brother were totally invalid. Definitely a plug for little siblings. 😊

Mom sidenote about the Sophie Mouse series in general: These stories are super sweet, but definitely focus on the interactions between friends rather than siblings. Sophie isn't mean to her brother, but in two different books she expresses the desire to play with her friends rather than her little brother. (But other stories show her playing games with him and doing a school project with him.) If your family is struggling with this particular issue though, and you feel that the older sibling should be more inclusive of the younger sibling, than these books may not be the best fit for your family. Overall, I feel like Sophie Mouse walks through real life issues with friends and siblings in a way that shows that respect and kindness is always best. (Even if they struggle with the right response initially.) It's not like Boxcar Children or Swallows and Amazons though where the siblings are all best friends and do everything together despite their age differences. Just something to be aware if it's a concern for your family.

[Soojung Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autumn's read aloud choice for family reading time. Autumn really liked that Sophie Mouse is 8, like her, and Winston Mouse, Sophie's brother, is 6, like Alex.

A family-friendly beginner chapter book with pictures too

I now know why Autumn likes to call Alex, Winston (which Alex has deemed a cute namr). Also, they will occasionally play together and go searching for Blue Morphos, which are mentioned in this story.

[Jasmine Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought the first 4 books for my 3 year old. I was really looking forward to them since she's obsessed with mouse stories but I'm not much of a fan. As others pointed out there's issues with not listening, not going to your parents when there's danger, wandering off without telling anyone... and something else I didn't like in this one was going up to a random strangers house alone. And none of these things are discussed. Probably not buying the next in the series, sadly.

[Read Aloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. So far, the first and third books are our favorites. We loved those! I wasn't a huge fan of the plot in this one and the entire time my toddler was asking, "where did he go?" because that's all she could focus on. While I can definitely see us rereading other books in the series, I don't think we will revisit this one.

[Serene In Wonderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter (8) liked this and requested I read too. It was so wholesome, cozy cute! Nature love, fort building and sibling relationship.

CONTENT:
Nothing major. Some reviews note the younger sibling doesn't listen to his older sis and wanders off without supervision. The book is more from Sophie's/older sibling's perspective though and how to deal from that side.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another adventure with Sophie. This time her brother Winston goes missing.

Eliana’s review: “I liked the forts! And the pictures!” She also had a completely different take on where Winston really was during his disappearance.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love the message of disobedience being met with doing BETTER for the disobedience, and the safety issues that entails. I did like Sophie and co learning that sometimes looks are deceiving and leaving someone out could mean you settle for less.

[Morgan Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

We usually read 1 chapter each night before bed. My daughter was so into this one she begged me to keep going so we read several chapters a night. Cute story. We love the characters and the life lessons in each book.

[Alissa Faust · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many reasons why I love this book! For an easier chapter book, there were good descriptions, easy to follow dialogue, and a great plot. There were also elements of helping, kindness, teamwork, respect, etc. This is definitely a chapter book series I would want to own!

[Naisha Jhunjhunwala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was the best so far I have read out of the first 4 books because they had a wonderful surprise that they wanted and I had fun reading this one. (See my review on book 1 in this series for more information) Yay!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

After washing through some other not that great series with my daughter, I have come to appreciate the innocence of this one a little bit more. Sophie is playing with her friends when her brother goes missing. nice characters and plot.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Fia Rapson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cause Sophie most found Winston at the end. He was making his own fort. He said she could help if she wanted a gooder one.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice transitional fiction.

[Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.

[Mary T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as some of the others, but we still enjoyed it!

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to the 4 youngest kids, continuing our way through this series. The illustrations are so sweet and the stories have relevant problems and real feelings.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie Mouse è sempre adorabile, come lo sono le illustrazioni di questi libri <3

[Heidi Kuipers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story, even surprised me

[Eugenio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daughter loved the fort and the mystery of where was Winston

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are adorable and provide valuable lessons for children.

[sincerely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!