Mouse Scouts

Mouse Scouts

by Sarah Dillard

For fans of Ivy and Bean and Junie B. Jones comes a brand-new chapter book Mouse Scouts!
 
Meet Violet, Tigerlily, Hyacinth, Petunia, Junebug, and Cricket, six new Mouse Scouts who are trustworthy and strong, thrifty and brave . . . and destined to be friends to the end! Best friends Violet and Tigerlily can’t wait to start earning their merit badges. But their troop leader, Miss Poppy, is one strict rodent. And earning their first badge—planting a vegetable garden—is hard work. Will the troop drive unwanted pests from the garden and earn their Sow It and Grow It badge? And will they ever get Miss Poppy to smile?
 
Brimming with lively black-and-white illustrations—including pages from the official Mouse Scout Handbook, plus diagrams, games, activities, and more—this darling new series is just right for chapter book readers.

Genres: Chapter Books, Animals, Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy, Juvenile, Gardening

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2016

About the author

Sarah lives on a mountain in Vermont with her husband and their fidgety brown dog. Though Sarah strives for perfection, she seldom achieves it. Her house is rarely clean and her garden, when not buried under a snowdrift, is usually full of weeds. Overall, though, she has a pretty nice life. And if windows would only wash themselves, it would be just about perfect! Visit Sarah online at www.sarahdillard.com and www.mousescouts.com

Reviews

[Wendi Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute lil book for kiddos

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mouse Scouts have adorable acorn hats. That is all.



But seriously, this is a delightful little book about some young mice who have just moved up to the Acorn Scout level from Buttercups. They spend the summer working on their "Sow It and Grow It" badge, which involves creating a vegetable garden. They run into some challenges along the way, but of course they earn their badge in the end.

I think this would be an excellent "read together" book for children around age 5-6. There are lots of humorous and whimsical illustrations that pre-readers can "read" on their own. By third grade and up, children could probably read this independently.

I can only hope this will grow into a series of 16 books, since there are 16 badges shown on the inside front cover. (I personally would like to earn Weaving with Grass, Baking with Seeds, and Predator Awareness.) The musical notation for The Acorn Scout Song is at the back, and I confess that I sang it aloud when I got to it (which might have woken my bedmate who was already asleep).

Thanks for leading me to this, Julie. I look forward to the next Acorn Scout adventure!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute premise! I love the little excerpts from the "Mouse Scout Handbook" and the teeny-tiny world of mouse-gardening (spoons for digging, fork for raking and digging, chopsticks for staking plants--and, of course, the advice on what to plant (hint: mice should plant cherry tomatoes, not regular tomatoes, you don't want your harvest heavier than you can haul). Contains some helpful tips for real-world gardeners. I was a tad uncomfortable with a few rather stereotypical characters among the scouts... for example, Junebug is a bookish mouse who wears glasses, and has allergies to everything... Cricket likes to eat a lot and is rather stouter than the other mice... the stern, slightly-scary new scout master... Ultimately all the mice work together and are friends and both my seven-year-old and almost-five-year-old enjoyed it.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first installment in a chapter book series about six mice in a girl scout troop. The main focus is on two of the mice who are friends. Snippets from the "Mouse Scout Handbook" appear at the end of each chapter. While these excerpts relate to the plot of the corresponding chapter, they also break up the flow of the story because there are so many of them. Four of the mice have fairly distinctive personalities, though none of them are especially memorable. And they all look very similar in the illustrations.

In this book, the Acorn Scouts pursue their Sow It and Grow It badge by planting a vegetable garden. They battle insect pests and larger rodent thieves in order to succeed. Most of the vegetables manage to survive somehow and the mice learn important lessons along the way.

[Jentry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming book for young readers venturing into chapter books. Tigerlily and Violet are best friends that have different interests. This serves them well as they use their strengths to tend to the vegetable garden their Acorn troop is growing. They have to think creatively to solve problems when it comes to watering the garden and keeping slugs and other pests out. I enjoyed this book and think young readers will as well!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is literally the best thing ever!

[Ariel Cummins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more like 2.5 stars? I really wanted to like this more than I did! But the frequent mentions of lab mice creeped me out (I'm pretty sure 99.9999% of those mice are killed in the name of research?), and there were a couple of plot-holes (yep, I just accused a 120 page long transitional chapter book of not having a tight enough plot. I am what I am). Overall, cute, but I'd probably recommend Ivy and Bean or Owl Diaries over this particular title.

[Parry Rigney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet early chapter book about two little mouse friends starting off as Mouse Scouts. In this first installment, the Scouts learn all about teamwork and how to plant a garden. There are fun asides throughout (excerpts from the Mouse Scouts handbook), with information on planting and taking care of a garden. This would be a fun early chapter book read for any new reader, but might be especially fun for little girls who are starting off as girl scouts.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet little beginning chapter book that will be just perfect for kids entering and excited about scouting. Chapters from the "Mouse Scout Handbook" provide information on how to plant a garden which could be useful to some kids and may inspire kids to try their own hand at gardening.

[Julia Hendon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet early chapter book about six mice who have just become Acorn Scouts and find themselves taking on greater responsibilities, including planting a garden

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be dorky, but it was actually pretty cute! A group of mice are new Acorn Scouts and must work together to make a vegetable garden to earn a merit badge.

The story is interspersed with excerpts from the Mouse Scout handbook, which help explain and reinforce different parts of the story. Presumably, each book will focus on earning a different badge.

A slightly higher level that starter chapter, but skews to a younger audience.

ETA: forgot to mention that I didn’t like the mentions of lab mice being happy to contribute to science. “Retired lab mice”? Please.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this thinking it would be centering around scouting, and while it did, it seemed more so about how to grow a garden. This would be great to recommend for a young Daisy or Brownie troop doing one of their Journey's that involves gardening. My 7-year-old Girl Scout really liked this book and is eager to read the rest of the series. She was tickled that they had a scout pledge and uniforms like she does.

[Katie Acosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute. My Girl Scouts are reading this for summer book club and are all excited about the story. My daughter who will be in 2nd grade in the fall is reading it with some help. Miss Poppy, the Mouse Scout leader uses “big words” that were frustrating for her but we talked about what does the way Miss Poppy speaks say about her? My daughter is not discouraged though and is excited to keep reading about Violet, Tigerlily and their friends.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with my 5 year old. She says "I like the jumping on a water bottle part the best." It was a fun inventive setting for a story. I thought the vocabulary a bit on the high side for an early chapter book, but that was okay.

P.S. I was going to give this book three stars, but my co-reader says it gets five.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

These mouse scouts are as cute as can be, and as individualistic as can be, as they learn to work together to obtain their mouse (girl) scout badge in gardening. Readers will learn as well about different insects that harm and help gardens as well as other healthy, helpful tips.
Part of a series, where have these books been all my life? Loved it!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is SUCH a cute book- and perfect for Girl Scouts who are starting to read chapter books. I loved that it went through the different parts of Mouse Scouts and I love that the focus was on one badge and it talked about the different aspects of that badge& nature- in this case gardening. It's fun with a touch of educational information.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will be looking for all of these as they come out. I like the idea of the badges they earn - some great qualities for the readers to grow along with Viole,t Tigerlily, Hyacinth, Petunia, Junebug and Cricket.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kicked off the new year with this charming little book I picked up at the Juliet Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah. The distinct mouse scout personalities are delightful, with even a bookish mouse with allergies and lactose intolerance.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun and creative read aloud featuring mice in a club like scouts. They work together to earn a gardening badge in this book. The winner aspect of this book is the illustrations, specifically the mouse scout handbook tidbits throughout. We will read the next installment in the series.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was adorable! Loan from my favorite middle granddaughter and I plan to get her the rest of the series. This book has “people” gardening tips disguised as mouse gardening. The artwork is precious and was a fun read.

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

hooray for the mouse scouts!!!

Very cute and informative book with a touch of adventure and a lot of bravado.great for young girls to read and be inspired to do good In their own homes and in their communities.i really enjoyed this and will be recommending it as well

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was funny because they used a milk carton as a little wheel barrow to carry a fork, a straw, a knife, a spoon, a pencil, another straw, a flag, and some medicine. (L, aged 5)

[Debra Sabah Press · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids loved this book. I found it a bit saccharine, but I defer to them!

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super sweet and adorable. This series would be a good readalike for Owl Diaries, Critter Club, Mercy Watson or even Charlotte's Web. 2nd or 3rd grade reading level.

[Checkthebook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good. The mice have a girl scout troupe. (I think I still have a few of my badges from the 1970's upstairs somewhere...)

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about gardening that will appeal to Girl Scouts.

[Chelsea Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet and cute. Enjoyed reading it with my Girl Scout.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for those who like books like The Littles

[Molly Milosevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad all of the mouse scouts are taking care of the garden 🪴 🌱🍃