The Subway Mouse

by Barbara Reid

The newest from Barbara the story of a young mouse living in the subway, who dreams of the magical world called Tunnel's End.

Nib is a subway mouse. As a young mouse, he loved to hear the stories about Tunnel's a beautiful yet dangerous, roofless world. One day, Nib decides to set off, away from his dirty, crowded home, to find his dream. Along the way he meets a girl mouse named Lola, who joins him. Together, they navigate the long and dangerous tunnel, until, one night, when they have almost given up hope, they hear a small chirping sound. . . it is Tunnel's End, more beautiful than Nib ever dreamed.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Adventure, Canada, Trains, Juvenile

48 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2004

About the author

As a child, Barbara Reid loved reading, drawing, writing and fooling around with plasticine. She kept at it, and has written and illustrated 19 picture books, illustrating more than 25. Her books have been published in over a dozen countries, and her signature plasticine relief illustrations have won many awards including a Governor General’s Award for Illustration and the Ezra Jack Keats Award. Her work has been selected for the IBBY International Honour List, Sydney Taylor Notable Books, the Toronto Public Library’s First and Best List and the Ontario Library Association Best Bets. Recently, Picture a Tree received starred reviews in Quill and Quire, the Horn Book, Kirkus and Booklist.

Through workshops and presentations across Canada, Barbara has enjoyed meeting thousands of young readers, writers and fellow plasticine artists. In July 2013 Barbara was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Barbara’s dimensional artwork is photographed for reproduction by photographer, and husband, Ian Crysler. Barbara lives in Toronto, but is at home in libraries and classrooms everywhere.

Reviews

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations here are plasticene with found objects and paint. The pictures are so vivid and attention-getting. The story is about a mouse who lives in the subway who tries to find the legendary outside, where none of the other mice have ever been. We liked it!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Subway Mouse by Barbara Reid is the story of Nib, the subway mouse, and his search for Tunnel's End: a beautiful yet dangerous, roofless world.

Nib grew up at Sweetfall, under a busy platform, hearing bedtime stories of Tunnel's End. When his cousins decide to move into his nest, Nib decides to search for Tunnel's End. At another platform named Sugardrop Nib meets Lola, who joins him on his quest. At another station, they flee a gang of big mice. They pass many stations, and run out of food. Hearing a musical chirp they follow the noise and emerge at Tunnel's End. They found seeds and dew. While Tunnel's End was dangerous it was also beautiful. They raised a family, and Nib would tell them stories each night.

The straight forward text features some humourous dialog.

The illustrations are made with plastacine that is shaped and pressed onto illustration board. Acrylic paint, found objects and other materials are used for special effects. The art has a realistic three dimensional look that will appeal to many readers. Seeing the world from the point of view of the mice is very enertaining. I especially like the details from Nib's nest, particularly the happy face, the Mounties picture, the raisin box,, pencil, straw, crayon, stamps and balloon. Among my favorite images were the many baby mice, Lola and Nib dancing, and their family inside an old birdhouse.

This is a cute story whose illustrations are the highlight. The story reminds me in several ways of a recent children's novel called Young Fredle, about a mouse who wants to explore outside.

For ages 4 to 7, mice, subways, adventure, and fans of Barbara Reid.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adventures of a mouse who lives with his family in a subway station. He becomes fascinated with stories about the Tunnel's End and embarks on a journey with another mouse, Lola to find it. Don't read this book for the fairly dull story, but for the illustrations--they are incredible! Made from what looks like clay, they give the appearance of being three dimensional and are what kept me turning the pages.

From SLJ:
"Although the story is somewhat flat and predictable, Reid's artwork is outstanding....
The images are both realistic and clever and have an inviting, three-dimensional appearance. Young children will pore over the details and older children will get ideas to create their own pictures."

From Booklist:
"Reid creates a charming, lively adventure in short, smoothly paced sentences, but it's her marvelous collage illustrations that really bring the characters and richly imagined world to life....
Children will enjoy poring over the detailed images of the world from a mouse's viewpoint, and many will see themselves in intrepid Nib, who feels at odds with his cacophonous family and dreams of a sweet, cozy nest of his own."

[Ksenia (vaenn) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Воно ніби й негарно - додавати в прочитане садочкову книжку-картинку, але в цьому випадку важко втриматися. Коротенька циклічна історійка-притча про маленькі великі подвиги для найменших, тобто зміст - це одне. Хороша книжка, добра, хоча й місцями з моралькою "Хапнув - біжи щодуху!". Але ж тут ще є форма! Чудово збалансовані між реалістичністю та казковістю пластилінові ілюстрації серце гризунофіла підкорюють на раз. Не гризунофілам рекомендувати не можу - миші тут цілком собі щурячого штибу, і "промальовані"... переконливо.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an exciting tale of adventure and a love story, too. The setting of the story begins in a dark and dirty subway where a mouse dreams of a better, brighter life. The illustrations are very creative and feature mixed media scraps that make the images seem very realistic. I enjoyed this story much more than I thought I would.

[Natalie Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nib is a mouse who lives in a subway station. Nib doesn’t really like it because of how noisy it is. At night, Nib hears stories of this great place called Tunnel’s End. Nib sets out on an adventure to find this beautiful place. This book is great for sequencing and re-telling the story. The art work in this book is so unique.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is fun, and adds just enough creative detail to make it stand out from all the others on the topic. But it's the art for which we have chosen the book (am I right?) and it does not disappoint. The picture of Nib's first "snug hideout" draws me in immersively... I almost want to copy it for a 'room of my own.'

[Sandra Dussault · Rating 2 out of 5]

Images superbes, toutes réalisées à partir de pâte à modeler, comme seule Barbara Reid sait le faire !
Malheureusement, histoire prévisible et beaucoup trop longue. Les enfants n'ont pas accroché du tout.

[Storytime With Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Barbara Reid is a total rockstar! She is a prolific author/illustrator, creating all of her illustrations out of plasticine. She tirelessly gives of her time to visit schools and talk to children and teachers. She is also very active on social media, never failing to acknowledge anything sent by her many fans around the world. To top it all off, the York Region District School Board has honoured her by naming one of their newest schools Barbara Reid Public School!
We are huge Barbara Reid fans. Our favourite of her stories is the story of Nib the mouse who lives deep down in the subway system. One day Nib decides he is going to set off on an adventure to discover Tunnel's End, a place he has only ever heard about in stories. Finding danger and a new friend along the way, Nib discovers a place even more delicious and succulent than the stories had ever described.
The Subway Mouse has been honoured as a Blue Spruce nominee, a Governor General's Literary Award Finalist and a recipient of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award. The story really has something for everyone: animal lovers, subway enthusiasts, artists, and adventurers. Barbara Reid puts so much detail into her plasticine art, using found objects as well, to fill out the scenes deep in the subway stations. I would always use her stories to inspire an art lesson using plasticine.
To learn more about Barbara Reid and her other works, check out barbarareid.ca or you can follow her on Facebook Barbara Reid, Instagram or Twitter (@barbreidart).

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story about a mouse named Nib who comes from a large family that lives below the platforms of a busy subway station, a place called Sweetfall. All day the family gathered food when the trains ran and told stories when it was quiet, stories about Tunnel's End, a frightening place. Nib loved stories about Tunnel's End and often dreamed about it. One day he decided to travel to Tunnel's End. Along the way he met Lola and the two of them traveled to Tunnel's End together. When they finally got there it was more frightening then they imagined, but it was also wonderful, so they built a nest and started a family. I would recommend this book, not for the story itself, but for the unique claymation like artwork.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's stupid how much I like this book. I just really loved that when Nib the rat ran into doubters, rats who told him this place called "Tunnel's End" was just a myth, Nib said "Well, at least you've heard of it." How could it be a myth if it is a myth that everyone has heard of? Why has no other rat gone after this myth that every rat wants to be true but is too scared to pursue? Nib is not a heroic rat or even a confident rat, just a curious one. It is kind of like a dystopia for children (and I'd use it with my freshmen if I were still teaching.) I even loved the ending. This is too much praise for a fairly quiet children's book, but I like to commend a good story when I find one.

[Clairissa D]

The Subway Mouse is a story about a mouse that lived in center part of the subway station had heard about the wonders of the other end of the train station. One day he developed enough courage to leave his family and travel along the subway to find the place that he had heard about. One his way to this place he ran into a girl mouse who was willing to help him in his journey. Soon after they joined the two mice found the enchanted part of the subway that they were looking for and lived happily ever after. I would use this text to help teach the elements of a story,sequencing,character traits.

[stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

got this for the little boy i babysit's birthday. i have lost count of how many times i have read it outloud, but luckily, i really like the story and the pictures. it reminds me of the stories i used to write in fourth grade, about this family of mice.

this is the story of nib, who decides to leave the safety of the subway tunnels and seek out a better life at "tunnel's end" - which may or may not exist. beautiful story, all around, especially for new yorkers.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The clay illustrations are stunning. I’ve never seen anything quite like them. So vivid and detailed. The story was fun - the ending jumped a bit but overall I liked it although it felt like something was missing. Or maybe it just jumped around a bit.

Materials used: plasticine that was shaped and pressed into illustration board, acrylic paint, found objects, and other materials
Typeface used: 19-pt. Garamond Medium

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorably imaginative tale of Nib and Lola making their way from the depths of the TTC subway tunnels to the unknown 'tunnels end'. I appreciated Nib's 'calculated risk' approach to the situation. Others might also enjoy Lola's 'go for it' way of being too.

The plasticine-multi-media illustration are just fantastic.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was bizarre, hilarious and I felt captivated the entire time. A mouse on a mission to see what kind of life lies beyond his confines. His migration is a little frightening. He gets hungry. He gets scared. He gets exhausted. But he also makes a new friend who joins him. The illustrations made me giggle too.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute! It's about a mouse who lives in a subway who decides to make his way to the outside, and follows the tracks, meeting up with other mouse dudes who think he's crazy for trying to find the legendary outside. My kid really enjoyed it, and I especially enjoyed the cute ending.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this for my nephews - it's a little long, but the art work is amazing!

[Guadalupe Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute little story about the adventure of a little mouse named Nib. I think think book is great for making predictions and also to assess student's reading comprehension.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is pretty cute--adventurous little mouse and nice claymation illustrations.

[Sheri Radford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art in Barbara Reid's books is simply gorgeous, filled with fascinating little details.

[Mary-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great Canadian story with beautiful plasticine illustrations.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

47 months - Great illustrations all done in plasticine relief... and a really good story too. We all enjoyed this one... oh Canadian author too. :)

[Glenn Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good for older students. I read it to younger student and we both lost interest in this story.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the story was so-so, but the pictures are wonderful! They're done out of clay and look very realistic. Wow.

[She's Stacked (Jo-Anne) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I have ever since I first read it. It includes the TTC, my city and mice in the most endearing fashion. It is simply magical.

[Tnb · Rating 1 out of 5]

i did not like this book. i thought it was very boring and without a message

[Jodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mouse living in a subway hears stories about the end of the tunnel and decides he wants to find it.

[Naturallynurturedchildcare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous, we only have it in french though as the mouse is called "Nico" in the french version. The plasticine illustrations are amazing.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story, lovely pictures.