If You Take a Mouse to School

If You Give... #5

by Laura Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illustrator)

If you take a mouse to school, he'll ask you for your lunch box. When you give him your lunch box, he'll want a sandwich to go in it. Then he'll need a notebook and some pencils. He'll probably want to share your backpack, too. . . .

The famous mouse from the New York Times #1 best-seller 'If You Take a Mouse to the Movies' (2000) and 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' (1985) is back for his first day of school. Only Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond could make school this much fun!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, School, Animals, Fiction, Fantasy, Back To School

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Juan Zozaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I read was really funny because I had to read it to first grade students at Stevenson elementary. It was really an experience because I had never done that before. I liked that the children were very interested in the story, even though they had read it already. I was embarrassed at the moment but when I saw my friend do it I had the confidence to read to them. When I was finished they asked me a lot of random questions. I had fun reading this book to them. I’m sure they had fun hearing me read it. I recommend the book for children.

[Kelly Kosinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids loved this book. I always loved reading to them at bedtime.

[Rossy · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's soooo cute and smart <3 It was really sweet/fun/sad when he wanted the lunchbox!
I hate mice, but this one is adorable!

[GG_Reads]

Why is this so darn cute?

[Bree Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading with my 2nd grader. We both loved it

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was one of Madi's favorites. We read it multiple times every day.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who has worked with children or had some of their own know that kids ask a lot of questions. Laura Joffe Numeroff builds off that truth in If You Take a Mouse to School. If you take a mouse to school... he will get into all sorts of crazy shenanigans, that is for sure!

This book was read to the group at my preschool observation this morning. Their responses to the lead teacher's pre-reading questions were priceless ("Can we have a mouse for here?"). Colorful illustrations work in tandem with the simple story to bring the adorable tale to life.

[Maki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great roundabout story about what happens when you take a mouse to share. I love the illustrator as well, very funny drawings!

[R.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books, and the movies are great too!! :P

I find it funny how the mouse just writes a whole book without barely thinking about it! I wish it was that simple!! xD

[Jessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

noch nie wurde mir ein buch so liebevoll vorgelesen wie als Lilly mir heute dieses buch vorgelesen hat in englisch... enough Said

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mouse is a GOLD DIGGER. For real.

[Jordan Tankersley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story, along with all other Laura Numeroff stories was great! I love that it each action leads the mouse to want something else because it is so relatable to children's actions. Also, I like that it is set in a school. This makes it relatable to young students. Along with the plot, I enjoyed the illustrations. This story is silly and great to read to children of any age. It is also fun to read because the children can guess by looking at the pictures of what the mouse will want to do next.

[Jon Gustafson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is extremely engaging for students of nearly all ages. The colorful illustrations allow younger students to search for the mouse on each page while he is busy making mischief throughout a school. Students' schema is utilized as familiar school vocabulary is explored (science, lunchbox, lunchroom etc.). The story comes full-circle when the mouse asks, just like at the beginning, for your lunchbox.

[M.K. Aneal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book(:

[Zachary Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

An illogical plot offering no resolution for the conflict and needed a more developed climax. The writing style seemed inauthentic compared to author’s other titles. Main character is very charismatic on the page.

[Jenny Clark]

This is one that my pre scholars really liked. It is another one good for beginning readers, also if you have a little one afraid to start school, this shows how fun it can be.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, this mouse was selfish.

[Tammie Anne (Literary.Existentialism) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this from a McDonald’s Happy Meal.

[Ky Haslam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute bedtime story!

[Amber’s Book Nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely really like this one too

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good remix on the original If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but for back-to-school! Just as fun as the original but in a different environment.

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a little boy and a mouse. The little boy takes the mouse to school, and this leads to the mouse wanting snacks, and the mouse doing sciences experiments, and making messes, building things out of clay, writing a book, and many other things. Then the mouse forgot the book he wrote in the little boy's lunch box that the mouse hid at school, so in the end, the little boy had to take the mouse back to school again.

I always love anything written by Laura Numeroff. Her books are so perfect and so cute in everyway. I especially love "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," or "If You Give a Moose a Muffin." They are cute simple stories that draw kids of any ages. The way she writes, she draws you into the story by wondering what the main character animal will do next. These books are necessary for any classroom and I will be happy to buy them.

[Peter Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read "If You Take a Mouse to School" to my little cousin. He really enjoyed the book and so did I. I am a junior in high school, and I enjoyed this first grade level book. It is about a mouse who wants to go to school and do all of these things at school such as riding a skateboard and drawing. The mouse will want to go back to school again and again.

This picture books main character's are a mouse and the boy who owns the mouse. The mouse seems to be greedy and want a lot from his owner, much like children to their parents. The boy who owns the mouse seems to care for the mouse, because he lets it do anything it wants. He does seem like a nice boy and owner.

I think that this book is in today's time. It does not say when it takes place. It takes place mainly at the school that the boy and mouse go to. I don't think you could mistake where it takes place anywhere else other than a school because of the title and the illustration shows they are at a school.

I personally liked this book, because it was a quick easy read and my little cousin also enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to first grade children or younger. This book is not gender specific, because I think boys and girls would love this book. I think this is too easy of a read for myself, and I would never pick this up just to read on my own.

[Amanda Bonbrisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If You Take a Mouse to School" is another great series-of-events, or "if you give a" book, by Laura Numeroff. In this book, the mouse goes through a typical day of elementary school. From doing academics to playing sports before the bus takes him home, the mouse takes on a role of a student. Although the things he does are typical like taking a lunch to school and using many pencils, the use of exaggeration makes it very entertaining, especially for young children.

I think this is an excellent book for K-1 students. I believe the book would be best suitable for a Kindergarten class read-aloud, particularly in the beginning of the school year when the students are just getting accustomed to the new routine of school. The book would greatly help students understand this new transition, and it is a fun read as well. I definitely believe it would be fitting for first graders too. Overall, the whole collection is entertaining and fun, and this book is a great way to get students interested in the routine of going to school.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mouse's visit to the school with his owner reads more like a sequence of events rather than a chain of connected events, as in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Mouse has interesting adventures that are illustrated with some really cute pictures (mouse peeking around the boy's book, mouse's head only visible in the cloud of dust that the kids kick up as they run for the bus). However, the story just didn't have the appeal to me that the very first mouse book did. It was OK.

[April Castle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tale is about a mouse who goes to school with a boy and what a mouse would do. This book could be used to discuss the things that go on in a school day. This story could explore possibilities about what "if's" this happened. Could talk about things that happen in a school day and why we can not bring pets to school.
Keywords: School, mouse, events at school, what you might do in a school day

[Anna Dipprey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you take a mouse to school is a great book that would be best suited for beginning learners. The colorful illustrations, silly plot and simple vocabulary make this book great for pre k to kindergarten students.
This book would be best as a read aloud to young students, or an independent reading book for slightly older children. In my opinion, this book could be used as an independent reading book for children in the 1st grade.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are cute enough. Recently I realized that I can use them in my grammar classes. Most of the sentences are good examples of complex sentences with classic dependent clauses leading the way. This will be a fun book to read with the children as I introduce this skill.

If you take a mouse to school, the teacher will be able to use him to help educate the students. :)

[Alondra Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happen is that a boy takes a mouse too school and something's happen when he in school with a boy i did like the book it's a mouse that goes to school that never happens when do you take a mouse to school that's what i like about my book i recommend this book to a first grader or second grader because it is not that hard to read the book but it will be to easy for a 3 grader and up.

[Judy Magallanez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This colorful book keeps your students guessing as they see if their predictions are correct. It even talks about the mouse writing a book and then reading it to his friend. The mouse shows how much fun school can be.