Mouse's Wood: A Year in Nature

Mouse

by Alice Melvin

An exquisitely illustrated picture book with special die-cut flaps that follows the woodland ramblings of Mouse and highlights the change in seasons.  Written with a gentle rhyme that reflects the slow pace of Mouse’s rambling journey, and illustrated in Alice Melvin’s inimitable style, Mouse’s Wood is a heartwarming celebration of slow living in nature. This beautifully designed book also features special die-cut flaps and includes a spread featuring a nature calendar of plants, birds, and animals for children to search for in the wild. Mouse first ventures out in wintry January to visit his friend Squirrel. Mouse moves on to wake up Hedgehog for the arrival of spring, and as he continues along the path in the wood, Mouse’s journey from friend to friend maps out the changes in seasons from January through to December.  Illustrated in color throughout

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Animals, Fiction, Parenting, British Literature

32 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

Reviews

[Maja (majareads) Milocanovich ☕️]

Most perfect book 🥹😭🥰

[Luisa Knight]

This book is a culmination of all my favorites!

Months and seasons. Check.

Cozy rooms/homes of woodland creatures. Check.

Flaps to peek inside said cozy homes. Check.

Colorfully whimsical illustrations. Check.

This is a must for everyone! And don’t borrow it from the library. You’ll just be checking it out perpetually anyway. Ha, ha.

Ages: 2 - 6

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

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[Lisa]

One of the most incredible arrivals of the year for me - Mouse's Wood. You are going to fall in love with this book, just like us.

It's a very special book. It's one of those books that should get a forever home on your bookshelf. A book to cherish, dip into frequently and save for the grandchildren.

Delightful, whimsical, magically wonderful with secret doors to explore - Alice Melvin has given us a real treat.

Each double page spread depicts a month of the year in stunning detail. There's delicate, rhyming text that corresponds to each month and a different animal home to explore through a peep through door. It's exquisite.

The back of the book explores the things you can discover in the woods at that time of year and the animals.

Thank you Thames and Hudson for sending this copy for review.

[Aiko]

Reading this made me feel like a child again, as if I was playing in the woods and discovering all the small beauties of nature all over again. It allowed for little moment to just take a break, breathe and enjoy the moment. Super calming and cosy read.

The art is beautiful and I have an immense weakness for being able to look inside animal houses so that also instantly made this book perfect to me lol.

[V]

Cozy is the overwhelming feeling we both got reading Mouse's Wood. Narrating each month of the year in verse, a forest-dwelling mouse leads readers through the changing seasons. With a peek-through first page and lift-the-flap abodes on the two-page spreads, this lovely picture book invites readers to examine the detailed homes of each woodland creature. T looked ahead before we sat down to read together, and told me in advance of several of the houses, "This is a cozy one." Books, blankets, string lights, warm colors - the tiny homes of the mouse, hedgehog, red squirrel, and others warm the heart.

T and I traded off reading the four-line poems. He enjoyed reading the months that mean something to him, like June (for which our cat is named). Back matter includes highlights for each month - bluebells in May, for example - and introductions to each animal that appears in the book. If you or your kiddo love the forest, cute animals, cozy abodes, or the changing seasons, Mouse's Wood should be up your alley.

When I said to T after reading that I enjoyed reading this because it was so cozy and made me just want to snuggle up under a blanket with a book with him, he told me that he felt exactly the same way

[madame Gabrielle]

oh que j’aurais aimé avoir cet album entre les mains quand j’étais toute petite. parce que c’est une jolie histoire, parce que j’ai toujours aimé ces personnages de la forêt et l’univers enchanteur dans lequel ils sont présentés et parce que les rabats sont mignons comme tout à découvrir. c’est du beau!

[Emily]

The art style, the rhyming, the nature facts… I love it 😭 I hope to one day be wealthy enough to be able to hire an interior designer just so I can show them this book so they can turn my house into a woodland animal’s paradise.

[Joanna]

I loved the gorgeous illustrations in this book and enjoyed lifting the flaps to see inside each forest animal's home.

[Brittany Winslow]

I’m obsessed with this book.

[Erin Buhr]

This beautiful book invites you to spend a year in the woods with Mouse. Each page has short lines of rhyming text about one month illustrated with lush, detail rich illustrations and a flip the flap peek inside of a home in Mouse's wood. The peeks inside the cozy houses are one of my favorite parts. Each feels like a glimpse inside an adorable dollhouse of sorts. Mouse's year is busy and also reflects how the natural world transforms from month to month. It is a vibrant story that celebrates how a northern wood changes over the course of a year.

[Apotiron]

c'est absolument merveilleux

[KnownAsLavinia]

Una lettura piacevole anche per i grandi, ci si perde nei mille dettagli dei disegni della Melvin che sono stupendi. Un buon modo per cominciare a parlare di mesi e stagioni con i piccoli.

[Stefanie]

Lovely!

[Vanessa Johnson]

The sweetest book!

[Krista]

Ok! I love these books. I want all of them! 🫶🏼

[Desi]

Absolutely in love with the illustrations and the writing as well. A celebration of each uniquely beautiful month of the year.

[Ioana]

Una dintre cele mai frumoase cărți din biblioteca noastră este "Pădurea lui Șoricel" de Alice Melvin (trad. Florin Bican) 🌳 Ilustrațiile sunt de-a dreptul spectaculoase, iar poezioarele în rimă aduc magia fiecărui luni a anului mai aproape de cei mici 💚

Cartea este și cu clapete, sub care se ascund fel și fel de vietăți din pădure, astfel că mânuțele curioase pot afla ce face bursucul, veverița și mulți alții de-a lungul anului 🐭 La finalul lecturii se găsește un mic calendar al naturii, dar și câteva informații despre animăluțele din pădure. Fiecare pagină poate fi cu ușurință înrămată, atât de minunat arată totul 😍

Volumul a apărut la @cartea.copiilor 📚

[Celina]

Heerlijk kneuterig flapjesboek met leuke doorkijkjes. Muis maakt een reis door het bos. Daar komt hij elke maand iets of iemand anders tegen. In dit boek volg je een jaar lang het leven in het bos. Achterin het boek ook een informatief stukje over wat er te zien is in het bos en welke dieren er leven.

[AM W]

Fantastische illustraties. Mooiste prentenboek ooit!

[Louise O'Connell]

Such a lovely book.

[.*•. ☾ sephia ☾ .•*.]

This book is so magical. I recommend listening to the song Farewell by Eunike Tanzil whilst reading this, as it fits with the book so well. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, it has such a magical feeling, and I love that the book changes with the cycles of nature. I loved the cast of woodland characters, this book was wonderful and charming! ✨🍃🍂🌷🪻🐿️🦦🦔🦡

[burgundowezycie]

„Myszka i las. Rok w przyrodzie” to jedna z tych książek, które nie tylko się czyta — ją się przeżywa. Już od pierwszych stron wciąga nas w spokojny, pełen detali świat lasu, w którym każdy liść, każda gałązka i każdy cień ma znaczenie. Towarzyszymy Myszce w jej wędrówkach przez kolejne pory roku, obserwując, jak przyroda zmienia się w rytmie natury — powoli, harmonijnie, bez pośpiechu.

To, co szczególnie wyróżnia tę książkę, to niezwykłe ilustracje Alice Melvin. Warstwowe, pełne drobnych szczegółów, aż proszą się o zatrzymanie na dłużej: „spójrz jeszcze raz”, „a co kryje się w tym kącie?”, „czy zauważyłeś tego ptaka?”. Każde ponowne otwarcie książki może przynieść nowe odkrycie, co sprawia, że dzieci (i dorośli!) wracają do niej wielokrotnie, za każdym razem z taką samą ciekawością.

Delikatny, rymowany tekst prowadzi nas przez historię niczym spokojny spacer leśną ścieżką. Nie spieszy się — i właśnie w tym tkwi jego urok. Uczy uważności, pokazuje, że natura ma swój własny rytm, którego warto słuchać. To książka, która nie tylko opowiada o lesie, ale wręcz zaprasza, by się w nim „zanurzyć”.

Ogromnym atutem są też interaktywne elementy: klapki do odkrywania oraz rozkładówka z kalendarzem przyrodniczym. Dzięki nim dziecko może aktywnie uczestniczyć w lekturze — szukać zwierząt, rozpoznawać rośliny i lepiej rozumieć zmieniający się świat przyrody. To świetny punkt wyjścia do rozmów, wspólnych obserwacji i spacerów w naturze.

„Myszka i las. Rok w przyrodzie” to książka, która nie tylko zachwyca wizualnie, ale też wycisza i inspiruje. Pokazuje, że w prostocie i powtarzalności natury kryje się coś niezwykle kojącego. Idealna do wspólnego czytania z dzieckiem — powoli, bez pośpiechu, z czasem na pytania, zachwyty i odkrycia.

To nie jest zwykła opowieść o myszce. To zaproszenie do uważnego patrzenia na świat!

Dziękuję za zaufanie i egzemplarz do recenzji od wydawnictwa @pwnwydawnictwo (współpraca reklamowa) 🩷.

[Kathryn]

I absolutely love this book! It’s an utter delight, one of those “kindred spirit” books that comes along and you feel you’ve known it forever. I would have adored this when I was a little girl, too. I knew the moment I opened the cover and spied the “A Map of the Wood” with all the darling little homes labeled so charmingly and places like “Bluebell Glade” and “The Wild Strawberry Path” that I wanted to live in these pages for a spell. The beautiful woodland setting, the wee world of the mice and other anthropomorphic forest creatures, the artwork alone would have charmed me but the peek-through cut-outs and flaps add an additional element of *squeeee* that appeals to my inner child and makes this a book that my adult self wants to hug. On top of all the loveliness, the book also holds some educational value teaching about the woods in changing seasons as back matter includes “A Year in the Wood” which points out some of the flora and fauna that can be found in each month’s spread. I rarely purchase picture books these days, but I will make an exception here. For me, it’s a book to treasure.

[Midnight.reads]

- kniha pre deti 3+
- rok v lese
- veľký formát
- dvojstranové ilustrácie
- menej textu
- otváracie okienka

Myslím, že mnohí z nás už dobre poznáme leporelo edíciu Rok v … Myšiakov les je podobná kniha, no predsa sa v nejakých drobnostiach líši. Ak sa vašim deťom edícia rok v páčila, ale hľadáte pre nich niečo pokročilejšie, no predsa podobné - táto kniha by sa vám mohla páčiť .

Celou knihou nás sprevádza myšiak, ktorý nám mesiac po mesiaci ukazuje les a meniacu sa prírodu v ňom. Ilustrácie sú robené na obrovské papierové dvojstrany a sú doslovne dychberúce. Kniha disponuje aj veľmi zaujímavým spracovaním a to výrezmi, predĺženými stranami a otváracími okienkami. Každá dvojstrana obsahuje aj málinko textu, ktoré patria práve myšiakovi. Ten nám každý mesiac opisuje meniacu sa prírodu v jeho lese.

Sama neviem povedať, ktorý mesiac sa mi páčil v knihe najviac. Po prečítaní mám pocit, že sa teším na každý jeden. Príroda je veľmi pestrá, kreatívna a rôznorodá a v každom mesiaci nás prekvapí niečím iným.

[Stanley Rey]

Blatant design oversight! Entirely ruined our family reading experience. This book is a massive letdown due to a baffling and incredibly frustrating design flaw. Gave this intentionally along with multiple presents in a fall box. This was one of the main ones. Mouse's Wood includes special interactive elements for parts of the year, but completely skips over April and May. For our family, May is a deeply significant month filled with major birthdays and the celebration of Mother's Day. To see May totally excluded from a special feature while June randomly gets one is an infuriating and suspicious coincidence.Leaving out such important, sentimental times of the year completely killed the mood for my family. What should have been a joyful story ended up causing absolute disappointment. It feels like lazy curation, and I am making sure to post this review everywhere to warn other families. Do not buy this book if you care about celebrating April or May

[Boyce McClain]

Mouse loves to walk outside, explore and especially visiting his friends.
Join Mouse as he wanders the back roads to visit his many woodland friends.

Beautiful drawn and written in easy-to-understand prose for young children, the book: Mouse’s Wood: A Year In Nature by Alice Melvin and published by Thames & Hudson, follows the adventurous Mouse on his travels.

Each destination reveals the woodland inhabitant’s’ homes using clever pop-out panels. Join Mouse as he travels through all the seasons lushly illustrated in soft pastel color pencils and water colors.

Mouse’s journeys always end at his own home-what better place is there to visit?

Psalms 31:24
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

[Amy]

One of the most Beautiful book illustrations I have ever seen. This was a lovely book lots of lift the flap pieces to uncover, animals cute homes as well as birds, insects and fish every page is beautifully drawn with such attention to detail and vibrant colours. You follow Mouse through the twelve months of the year visiting his friends and seeing the seasons change, the flowers grow, the birds sing, the berries and vegetables ripen and then the weather turn cold. Each page has a short rhyming text to accompany the gorgeous illustrations and then at the very end of the book there is a information page about the different plants, insects birds and fungus that you will find in nature.

[Chris Browning]

As a childhood fan of Wind in the Willows, both as a book and as the stop motion Cosgrove Hall adaptation, I often found myself somewhat annoyed when Toad surfaced and set the plot in motion. I’m not entirely sure how aware I was that Peter Sallis was both Rat and Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine, but I did associate a similar sort of bucolic love of doing not much at all with both of them. And if that’s your favourite bit of Wind in the Willows then this book is for you. Just a beautiful, warm meander through a year and the creatures of the wood. The paper art is magnificent but the art generally just gives that aching warmth I adored as a small child. A beautiful book

[Wallace]

An incredibly illustrated book that feels like a slow journey through the days of nature. Each month is marked by a specific forest animal and shows signs of the season that encourages a closer look at the natural world. Wallace loves seeing inside each animal's house—so lovingly brought to life by Alice Melvin—and carefully turning each die-cut flap. And mom loves the monthly calendar of plants, birds, and animals that encourages us to slow down, pay attention to look closer to the artful passing of time.

[Kathryn]

Everything about *Mouse’s Wood: A Year in Nature* delighted me. The storytelling is lovely, but Alice Melvin’s illustrations made me linger over every page. The colors change so beautifully with each season, making the passing year through the wood feel wonderfully alive.

And, oh my goodness, the little cutouts! Opening them to peek inside Mouse’s house and seeing how it changes and gets decorated through the months was simply enchanting. This is the kind of children’s book that reminds me how much artistry and imagination can be tucked between the covers of a picture book.